04143cam a2200553 i 4500 21027016 BJBSDDR 20240625151645.0 ta 190612s2019 nyub b 001 0 eng 2019019351 9780190886059 (hardback) 0190886056 (hardback) LBSOR/DLC eng DLC rda DLC eng pcc e-ur--- e-ru--- 338 DK 66 S655r 2019 327.47 Smith, Mark B. 36478 The Russia anxiety : and how history can resolve it and how history can resolve it / Mark B. Smith. New York, NY : Oxford University Press, 2019. xxv, 445 pages : maps ; 25 cm text txt rdacontent unmediated n rdamedia volume nc rdacarrier Includes bibliographical references and index. The bear phantasmagoria : did history create the Russia anxiety? The destiny problem : what's the alternative to the 'black legend' of Russia's history? The narrative correction : what's really happened in the last 6,000 years? The dictatorship deception : does Russia's past offer democratic prospects? The terror moment : is Russia built on a history of violence? The Europe question : has Russia ever been part of the west? The empire relationship : is expansionism in Russia's DNA? The invader obsession : does history make Russians seek peace or war? The Stalin inheritance : should Russians remember the past or forget it? The Putin prospect : is Russia's future contained in her past? "With proof of election-meddling and the relationship between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin an ongoing conundrum, little wonder many Americans are experiencing what historian Mark B. Smith calls "the Russia Anxiety." This is no new phenomenon. Time and time again, the West has judged Russia on assumptions of its inherent cunning, malevolence, and brutality. Yet for much of its history, Russia functioned no differently-or at least no more dysfunctionally-than other absolutist, war-mongering European states. So what is it about this country that so often provokes such excessive responses? And why is this so dangerous? Russian history can indeed be viewed as a catalog of brutal violence, in which a rotation of secret police-from Ivan the Terrible's Oprichina to Andropov's KGB and Putin's FSB-hold absolute sway. However, as Smith shows, there are nevertheless deeper political and cultural factors that could lead to democratic outcomes. Violence is not an innate element of Russian culture, and Russia is not unknowable. From foreign interference and cyber-attacks to mega-corruption and nuclear weapons, Smith uses Russia's sprawling history to throw light on contemporary concerns. Smith reveals how the past has created today's Russia and how this past offers hints about its future place in the world-one that reaches beyond crisis and confrontation"-- Provided by publisher. Russia Foreign relations. Rusia Relaciones exteriores 5438 Soviet Union Foreign relations. Unión Soviética Relaciones exteriores 8943 Russia (Federation) Foreign relations. Rusia (Federación) Relaciones exteriores 5647 Russia (Federation) Foreign relations Western countries. Rusia (Federación) Relaciones exteriores Países occidentales 5645 Western countries Foreign relations Russia (Federation) Países occidentales Relaciones exteriores Rusia (Federación) 5646 Russia History. Rusia Historia 3646 Soviet Union History. Unión Soviética Historia 4678 Russia (Federation) History 1991- Rusia (Federación) Historia 1991- 2702 7 cbc orignew 1 ecip 20 y-gencatlg lcc BK 121389 121389 0 0 lcc 0 0 RR BJB BJB RR 2024-06-07 0 338 DK 66 S655r 2019 00000180888 2024-06-07 00:00:00 1 2024-06-07 BK