Russia and the world

Since the collapse of communism and the disintegration of the Soviet Union, Western politicians have begun to look at the new Russia in the context of Western democratic values and its strategic and economic considerations. This is why the reforms in Russia, while offering an opportunity for a durable peace between East and West, also contain some features which may eventually cause international tension, NATO's expansion to the East being the first sign of impending friction.

Cooper scrutinises all the various factors that determine Russia's foreign policy. He attempts such an analysis by applying Russian rather than Western criteria because we are dealing with a country in transition, where old rules are being discarded, but where a new system is still in the making. The book devotes special attention to the emergence of the old 'Westernisers' versus 'Slavophiles' conflict which finds its expression in today's Russia within the search for a 'New Idea'.