About the Book
This bold, sweeping history of the turbulent American-Russian relationship is unique in being written jointly by American and Russian authors. David Foglesong, Ivan Kurilla and Victoria Zhuravleva together reveal how and why America and Russia shifted from being warm friends and even tacit allies to being ideological rivals, geopolitical adversaries, and demonic foils used in the construction or affirmation of their national identities. As well as examining diplomatic, economic, and military interactions between the two countries, they illuminate how filmmakers, cartoonists, writers, missionaries and political activists have admired, disparaged, lionized, envied, satirized, loved, and hated people in the other land. The book shows how the stories they told and the images they created have shaped how the two countries have understood each other from the eighteenth century to the present and how often their violent clashes have arisen from mutual misunderstanding and misrepresentations.
Table of Contents:
Introduction; 1. From First Contacts to Fledgling Diplomatic Relations, 1607–1807; 2. Diplomacy and Rebellions, 1807–1841; 3. Beginning of a Friendship: Cooperation, Crisis, and Transformation, 1841–1860; 4. The Noonday of Friendship, 1861–1881; 5. Romance and Revulsion, 1881–1901; 6. Collision and Revolution, 1901–1905; 7. Interactions and Contradictions, 1906–1914; 8. Wartime Honeymoon, 1914–1917; 9. Revolution and Intervention, 1917–1920; 10. From Estrangement to Engagement, 1921–1933; 11. Hopes and Horror, 1934–1941; 12. Allies, 1941–1945; 13. From Alliance to Enmity, 1945–1953; 14. Crises and Coexistence, 1953–1963; 15. Détente, 1964–1979; 16. From Armageddon to Accommodation, 1980–1989; 17. Transformation and Reversion, 1989–1999; 18. From Partners to Archenemies, 2000–2020; Conclusion; Bibliography; Index.
About the Author :
David Foglesong is a professor of history at Rutgers University. He is the author of The American Mission and the 'Evil Empire': The Crusade for a 'Free Russia' Since 1881 (2007) and America's Secret War Against Bolshevism: US Intervention in the Russian Civil War, 1917–1920 (2014). Ivan Kurilla was a professor of history and international relations at the European University at St. Petersburg before he was forced to leave Russia in 2024. He is the author of Transoceanic Partners: America and Russia in the 1830-50s, Frenemies: History of Opinions, Phantasies, Contacts, Mutual (Mis)Understanding of Russia and the USA, Americans and All the Rest (all in Russian). Victoria I. Zhuravleva is a professor of history and Chair of the Department of American Studies at the Russian State University for the Humanities, Moscow, Russia. She is the author of Understanding Russia in the United States: Images and Myths (in Russian) and The Common Past of Russians and Americans (both in Russian and English).
Review :
'Distant Friends and Intimate Enemies offers a remarkably readable and balanced history of the relations between the United States and Russia/the Soviet Union. Identifying cycles of collaboration and confrontation, Foglesong, Kurilla, and Zhuravleva focus on shifting representations of the Other as both a model and a foil.' Lisa Kirschenbaum, author of Soviet Adventures in the Land of the Capitalists
'This book represents a remarkable achievement: drawing upon the talents of three outstanding scholars, both Russian and American, it covers the entire trajectory of relations between the United States and Russia, with attention to the ways that 'international realities have been imagined and how foreign policy outlooks have been constructed' by state and non-state actors in both countries. This is more than a simple examination of two countries' relations: it is a study of how and why each country developed (evolving) images of the other as part of their own national self-understanding. At a moment of rapidly evolving US-Russian relations, this historical perspective is especially valuable.' Julia Mickenberg, author of American Girls in Red Russia
'This insightful, engrossing book is required (yet delightful!) reading for anyone interested in understanding Russia and the United States' turbulent relationship. Distant Friends and Intimate Enemies--itself a product of a Russian-American cooperation--uncovers more than three centuries of admiration and animosity, collaboration and conflict between the 'two great peoples' that Alexis de Tocqueville predicted would 'shape the destinies of half the world.'' Alexis Peri, author of Dear Unknown Friend
'Erudite, entertaining and illuminating, this is a truly grandiose survey of Russo-American relations from the earliest days. Rich in detail and sophisticated analysis, the authors demonstrate how the US and Russia have never been enduring friends or permanent enemies. A magnificent example of the interpretivist approach, the book describes how leader choices and circumstances interact to shape the relationship. A splendid and definitive collaborative endeavour.' Richard Sakwa, author of The Culture of the Second Cold War
'A highly important analysis by a team of excellent American and Russian scholars, the Distant Enemies will attract even greater interest than scholarly books usually do. A more complete, comprehensive, and original account of U.S.-Russian relations simply does not exist.' Andrei P. Tsygankov, author of Russia and America
