Новинки Тимоти Дж. Колтона

Today's Russia, also known as the Russian Federation, is often viewed as less powerful than the Soviet Union of the past. When stacked against other major nations in the present, however, the new Russia is a formidable if flawed player.


Russia: What Everyone Needs to Know provides fundamental information about the origins, evolution, and current affairs of the Russian state and society. The story begins with Russia's geographic endowment, proceeds through its experiences as a kingdom and empire, and continues through the USSR's three-quarters of a century, and finally the shocking breakup of that regime a generation ago. Chapters on the failed attempt to reform Communism under Mikhail Gorbachev, the halting steps toward democratization under Boris Yeltsin, and the entrenchment of central controls under Vladimir Putin bring the reader into the contemporary scene and to headline-grabbing events such as Russia's annexation of the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine and its military intervention in Syria. Drawing on trends within Russia and on ratings and rankings compiled by international organizations, Colton discusses the challenges facing the country - ranging from economic recession to demographic stress, political stagnation, and overextension in foreign policy - and to the realistic options for coping with them.


The book shows that, although Russia is not imprisoned by its history, it is heavily influenced by it. Colton illustrates Russia's greatest strength and, ironically, its greatest weakness: the ability of its people to adapt themselves to difficult circumstances beyond their immediate control. Russia, as Putin has asserted, will not soon be a second edition of the United States or Britain. But, Colton shows, there are ways in which it could become a better version of itself.

Once the hub of the tsarist state, later Brezhnev's "model Communist city"--home of the Kremlin, Red Square, and St. Basil's Cathedral-- is for many the quintessence of everything Russian. Timothy Colton's sweeping biography of this city at the center of Soviet and post-Soviet life reveals what such a position has meant to Moscow and ultimately to Russia itself.

Борис Ельцин - одна из величайших фигур российской и мировой современной истории. Профессор Гарвардского университета Тимоти Колтон написал беспристрастную, тщательно выверенную монографию о первом Президенте России. В основу работы положено огромное количество документальных и архивных материалов, а также впечатления от личных встреч и разговоров с Борисом Ельциным.

Transitional Citizens – Voters & What Influences Them in the New Russia

Subjects obey. Citizens choose. Transitional Citizens looks at the newly empowered citizens of Russia's protodemocracy facing choices at the ballot box that just a few years ago, under dictatorial rule, they could not have dreamt of.

The stakes in post-Soviet elections are extraordinary. While in the West politicians argue over refinements to social systems in basically good working order, in the Russian Federation they address graver concerns--dysfunctional institutions, individual freedom, nationhood, property rights, provision of the basic necessities of life in an unparalleled economic downswing. The idiom of Russian campaigns is that of apocalypse and mutual demonization. This might give an impression of political chaos. However, as Timothy Colton finds, voting in transitional Russia is highly patterned. Despite their unfamiliarity with democracy, subjects-turned-citizens learn about their electoral options from peers and the mass media and make choices that manifest a purposiveness that will surprise many readers.

Colton reveals that post-Communist voting is not driven by a single explanatory factor such as ethnicity, charismatic leadership, or financial concerns, but rather by multiple causes interacting in complex ways. He gives us the most sophisticated and insightful account yet of the citizens of the new Russia.

Moscow – Governing the Socialist Metropolis

After the Soviet Union – From Empire to Nations (Paper)

Colton: After The Soviet Union: From Empire To Nations (cloth)

A revised and expanded version of Colton's earlier work, noted in Foreign Affairs, Fall 1984, bringing the story through the first years of Gorbachev's leadership. Clear, precise and judicious, it is an excellent introduction to the U.S.S.R. of today. As before, the author sees a real possibility of what he calls "moderate reform," and also of a less dangerous U.S.-U.S.S.R. relationship, if both sides are willing to seize it.