Overview

Ukraine is the subject of a tug of war between the west and Russia and has been terribly let down by both, albeit in very different ways, in the months and years leading up to war. Russia has brought bloodshed and suffering to Ukraine at the behest of Putin's vision of a greater Russian sphere of influence. For their part, however, the western countries that dominate the EU and NATO have over several years unrealistically raised Ukraine's expectations of joining these bodies, leaving Ukraine without formal allies and fatally exposed to Russian aggression. Russia's Road to War with Ukraine is a concise entry-level account of the path to the conflict that now dominates our headlines. It offers an objective and lively narrative, peppered with eye-witness accounts, of the key moments of drama leading to Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022. This accessible and informative book examines Russia's evolving post-imperial relationship with Ukraine, and the overarching story of how and why that relationship soured with tragic consequences, asking: Was Russia and Ukraine's falling out inevitable and what were the missed chances to avert the Russian invasion? What was the west's role in the story regarding the support (or lack thereof) offered to Ukraine? Was it ever possible to build a free, democratic and protected Ukraine that was not menaced by Russia, given their geographic location? Praise for The Great Imperial Hangover: 'An exceptional account, both personal and scholarly.' Tanjil Rashid, Prospect 'Puri has many penetrating insights into the way the legacies of empire still affect the behaviour of states and the international climate.' Tony Barber, FT

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"""Russia's catastrophic invasion of Ukraine poses weighty questions to the West: not only about the causes of war but about the eternal questions of causes and responsibility, structure and agency. Samir Puri enters this discussion with both passion and care. He draws on his own experience of the region and a deep study of Western-Russian relations over decades. As a result, he offers an account that is layered in its argument, with an eye to the war's roots in both human vice and tragic delusion. We don't yet know where the current battle is headed. But Puri's 'first cut' will help us greatly in fathoming how we got here."" Patrick Porter, Professor of International Security, University of Birmingham Samir Puri's Russia's Road to War with Ukraine is a ground-breaking study of the imperialist hubris behind Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine. The author has masterfully interwoven the historical legacy of the Soviet Leninist regime and its post-Soviet heirs. It is also an excellent account of the role of political leadership in times of war. The book is a must-read for students of International Relations and eastern European affairs."

Author Information

Dr Samir Puri is a senior fellow in hybrid war at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, a geopolitics think tank, and a regular media commentator on the war in Ukraine for Al Jazeera, Bloomberg, the BBC and other outlets. He has had a ringside seat to several major events covered in this book, serving as an international observer at five Ukrainian elections including the 'Orange Revolution' in 2004. Soon after the first incarnation of the war began in 2014, he spent a year working along both sides of the front line as a British diplomat seconded to an international monitoring mission. He is the author of The Great Imperial Hangover: How Empires Shaped the World (Atlantic, 2020).

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