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Nicolai N. Petro is professor of political science at the University of Rhode Island. He has served as special assistant for policy in the U.S. State Department and as civic affairs advisor to the mayor of the Russian city of Novgorod the Great. His books include: The Rebirth of Russian Democracy (Harvard,1995), Russian Foreign Policy (Longman, 1997), and Crafting Democracy (Cornell, 2004).
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63 Articles, 6 Quick Links, 16 Comments, 5 Diaries, 7 Series, 0 Polls
Series Listed By Popularity List Alphabetically
Nicolai Petro: Ukraine (22 articles)
Ukraine's malaise is only exacerbated by the West's persistent attempts to pit it against Russia. Were Russia to be acknowledged as an essential part of Europe, Ukraine's identity crisis would all but disappear. The whole of Ukraine could simply be what it already is--part of both Eastern and Western Europe.
Together, Ukraine and Russia could lay claim to their common
European vocation, and play a much more influential role in European affairs.
Comments prior to 2007 are available at my web site
archive: www.npetro.net/4.html.
Ukraine's malaise is only exacerbated by the West's persistent attempts to pit it against Russia. Were Russia to be acknowledged as an essential part of Europe, Ukraine's identity crisis would all but disappear. The whole of Ukraine could simply be what it already is--part of both Eastern and Western Europe.
Together, Ukraine and Russia could lay claim to their common
European vocation, and play a much more influential role in European affairs.
Comments prior to 2007 are available at my web site
archive: www.npetro.net/4.html.
Nicolai Petro: Russian-American Relations (10 articles)
The Russian-American relationship since the collapse of the USSR is a litany of lost opportunities and lack of vision. The latter is rooted
in an ostensible 'values gap' that has effectively cast relations with
post-communist Russia into another a long succession of 'strategies of containment,' to use historian John Lewis Gaddis' classic phrase.
Change will not come until we stop thinking of Russia as the USSR, and treat Russian democracy with the respect it deserves, so that it can finally resume its rightful role as an integral part of the West. Sadly, it appears that the task of finally bringing Russia back into Europe will be left to future generations, less burdened by the memory of the Cold War.
Comments prior to 2007 are available at my web site
archive: www.npetro.net/4.html.
The Russian-American relationship since the collapse of the USSR is a litany of lost opportunities and lack of vision. The latter is rooted
in an ostensible 'values gap' that has effectively cast relations with
post-communist Russia into another a long succession of 'strategies of containment,' to use historian John Lewis Gaddis' classic phrase.
Change will not come until we stop thinking of Russia as the USSR, and treat Russian democracy with the respect it deserves, so that it can finally resume its rightful role as an integral part of the West. Sadly, it appears that the task of finally bringing Russia back into Europe will be left to future generations, less burdened by the memory of the Cold War.
Comments prior to 2007 are available at my web site
archive: www.npetro.net/4.html.
Nicolai Petro: Western Perceptions of Russia (9 articles)
It is widely acknowledged that American media coverage of the world leaves much to be desired. This is especially true of Russia where, despite a few noted exceptions (Serge Schmemman comes to mind), unfamiliarity with the language, religion, and culture of the people is rampant.
The essays in this section focus on a small handful of clamorous examples. These, however, are only the tip of a very large iceberg.
Earlier commentary is available at my web site
archive: www.npetro.net/4.html.
It is widely acknowledged that American media coverage of the world leaves much to be desired. This is especially true of Russia where, despite a few noted exceptions (Serge Schmemman comes to mind), unfamiliarity with the language, religion, and culture of the people is rampant.
The essays in this section focus on a small handful of clamorous examples. These, however, are only the tip of a very large iceberg.
Earlier commentary is available at my web site
archive: www.npetro.net/4.html.
Nicolai Petro: Russian Politics (11 articles)
Russia is a normal European country, by which I mean it is an imperfect democracy. It shares this essential quality--imperfection--with every other democratic state.
I disagree with those who say Russia is sui generis, and therefore
set apart from other European countries. I find nothing in Russia's cultural and religious heritage that disadvantages its democratic development compared to other European countries. Indeed, I argue throughout these essays that European democracy would be greatly enriched by incorporating Russia.
Comments prior to 2007 are available at my web site
archive: www.npetro.net/4.html.
Russia is a normal European country, by which I mean it is an imperfect democracy. It shares this essential quality--imperfection--with every other democratic state.
I disagree with those who say Russia is sui generis, and therefore
set apart from other European countries. I find nothing in Russia's cultural and religious heritage that disadvantages its democratic development compared to other European countries. Indeed, I argue throughout these essays that European democracy would be greatly enriched by incorporating Russia.
Comments prior to 2007 are available at my web site
archive: www.npetro.net/4.html.
Nicolai Petro: International Relations (8 articles)
After the collapse of the USSR, American global pre-eminence
rose to unprecedented heights. Although less dominant than during the 1950s, its impact was magnified by the suicide of its main competing ideology--communism. As a result, even skeptics of capitalism suddenly found themselves bereft on any plausible alternative.
This idyll came to an end in 2008. Since then a global consensus on the need to 'democratize' international relations has emerged. Among its demands--developing alternative reserve currencies, diversifying economic resources, increasing reliance on domestic production, and strengthening the role of the United Nations in conflict resolution. All of these strike directly at the heart of American hegemony.
In this section I discuss the new multilateralism and, in particular, the strategic alliance between China and Russia which, in my estimation, will prove decisive for the future.
Comments prior to 2007 are available at my web site
archive: www.npetro.net/4.html.
After the collapse of the USSR, American global pre-eminence
rose to unprecedented heights. Although less dominant than during the 1950s, its impact was magnified by the suicide of its main competing ideology--communism. As a result, even skeptics of capitalism suddenly found themselves bereft on any plausible alternative.
This idyll came to an end in 2008. Since then a global consensus on the need to 'democratize' international relations has emerged. Among its demands--developing alternative reserve currencies, diversifying economic resources, increasing reliance on domestic production, and strengthening the role of the United Nations in conflict resolution. All of these strike directly at the heart of American hegemony.
In this section I discuss the new multilateralism and, in particular, the strategic alliance between China and Russia which, in my estimation, will prove decisive for the future.
Comments prior to 2007 are available at my web site
archive: www.npetro.net/4.html.
Nicolai Petro: Russian Foreign Policy (8 articles)
After discarding the baggage of Soviet ideology, Russia slowly began to conceive, and even more slowly to assert, its sovereign national interest. Throughout the 1990s senior Russian officials looked almost exclusively to the West for guidance and partnership. The Western response--containment recast in the form of NATO expansion eastward--will be judged as one of history's great missed opportunities.
Vladimir Putin came to office with similarly romantic notions of a deep partnership with Germany. In recent years, these too have yielded to a more cynical, but realistic, assessment of Western objectives.
In this section I trace Russia's gradual, reluctant turn away from Europe toward a new and independent global coalition of states--the BRICS.
Comments prior to 2007 are available at my web site
archive: www.npetro.net/4.html.
After discarding the baggage of Soviet ideology, Russia slowly began to conceive, and even more slowly to assert, its sovereign national interest. Throughout the 1990s senior Russian officials looked almost exclusively to the West for guidance and partnership. The Western response--containment recast in the form of NATO expansion eastward--will be judged as one of history's great missed opportunities.
Vladimir Putin came to office with similarly romantic notions of a deep partnership with Germany. In recent years, these too have yielded to a more cynical, but realistic, assessment of Western objectives.
In this section I trace Russia's gradual, reluctant turn away from Europe toward a new and independent global coalition of states--the BRICS.
Comments prior to 2007 are available at my web site
archive: www.npetro.net/4.html.
Nicolai Petro: the Russian Orthodox Church (6 articles)
A 2011 IPSOS survey of twenty three European countries, claims that Russia is the most religious country in Europe. At the same time that Western European and American societies are secularizing, Russia, along with much of the former Soviet Union, is undergoing a resurgence of traditional organized religion. Obviously, this affects all aspects of public life, including my particular interest in this section--politics.
Comments prior to 2007 are available at my web site archive: www.npetro.net/4.html.
A 2011 IPSOS survey of twenty three European countries, claims that Russia is the most religious country in Europe. At the same time that Western European and American societies are secularizing, Russia, along with much of the former Soviet Union, is undergoing a resurgence of traditional organized religion. Obviously, this affects all aspects of public life, including my particular interest in this section--politics.
Comments prior to 2007 are available at my web site archive: www.npetro.net/4.html.
