Over the last hundred years, Russia has undergone a succession of failed projects of state construction - from Tzarist modernisation to Soviet state socialism to liberal democratic market capitalism. This new book introduces these vastly different projects and explains their failure in order to illuminate the common problems of balancing social and economic transformation with political stability that Russia's rulers have faced during the twentieth century.
Russia: A State of Uncertainty traces Russia's complex historical development in the last century, as well as its recent...

The Russian Far East (RFE) comprises one quarter of the Russian Federation. It shares borders with China and North Korea, and only several miles of water separate Sakhalin from Japan and Chukotka from Alaska. It is, however, 5,700 miles and ten hours by plane from Moscow. The RFE has more and closer economic relations with Asian neighbours than with Moscow and Western Russia and, although poor and sparsely populated, is highly militarized and rich in minerals, diamonds, gold, oil, tin and more. This book provides a comprehensive introduction to the region, covering contemporary history,...

This book provides a concise introduction to contemporary Slovenia. It examines the country's rapid transition from a collection of provinces in the southern part of the Habsburg Empire, to a republic within Yugoslavia, to an independent state and analyses the major political and economic developments since 1991.

Croatia, Between Europe and the Balkans addresses the key developments in economics, politics, international relations and social policy in the state over the last decade. It places these developments in their historical context, and shows how current policy dilemmas are structured within the conflicting pressures which historically have pulled Croatia between a European, a Mediterranean and a Balkan orientation. In the new context of European integration however, Croatia may now find a new role in her pivotal position as a bridge between the unruly Balkans and an impatient...

Slovakia is one of the least known countries of central Europe, although it is easily accessible to the Western visitor - its capital city, Bratislava, is only an hour's drive from Vienna. As the country's accession to the EU draws near, it becomes vitally important to close the knowledge gap and supply a diverse audience with balanced information about Slovakia as an independent state.