With Putin staying in power and Russian nationalism (imperialism) driving his policies towards Ukraine, ‘it is difficult to see how peace in the Donbas can be achieved’ (p. 149), a view sadly confirmed by recent events. This is a useful, thought-provoking and well-organised book with several merits. First, it presents a unique and critical academic perspective in Russian studies, criticising the low quality of its research and biased academic orientalism vis-à-vis Ukrainian–Russian relations, and challenging Western mainstream views. Second, it adopts a cross-disciplinary approach to the detailed analysis of the interplay between nationalism (imperialism), racism and war in Russian studies, covering wideranging disciplines such as geopolitics, history, military, ethnology, linguistics and international relations. Third, it offers a counter-narrative of Russian ‘full spectrum conflict’, especially the longterm military intervention and the aggression in 2014, which helps readers to understand the cause and effect of the current Russian–Ukrainian War and their past conflicts taking place in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine. In addition, the book’s analysis is supported by a solid literature review and a range of statistics and photographs. Nonetheless, this reviewer has one small regret. Though, as argued, the prospects for a peaceful settlement of the Russian–Ukrainian War are slim, the author makes no specific suggestions as to how to change Russian nationalist attitudes towards Ukraine and Ukrainians. All in all, Crisis in Russian Studies? Nationalism (Imperialism), Racism and War is an innovative and insightful book. It elucidates key topics in contemporary Russian studies and deepens our understanding of Ukrainian–Russian relations from multifaceted perspectives, in terms of politics, economy, history and culture. It is recommended to those interested in Russian studies, especially the Russian–Ukrainian conflict.
No takes yet. Share an insight, caveat, or question.
Zheyu Shang (2022) studied this question.