Putin's Wars: The Rise of Russia's New Imperialism

This fully updated book offers the first systematic analysis of Putin’s three wars, placing the Second Chechen War, the war with Georgia of 2008, and the war with Ukraine of 2014–2015 in their broader historical context. Drawing on extensive original Russian sources, Marcel H. Van Herpen analyzes in detail how Putin’s wars were prepared and conducted, and why they led to allegations of war crimes and genocide. He shows how the conflicts functioned to consolidate and legitimate Putin’s regime and explores how they were connected to a fourth, hidden, “internal war” waged by the Kremlin against the opposition. The author convincingly argues that the Kremlin—relying on the secret services, the Orthodox Church, the Kremlin youth “Nashi,” and the rehabilitated Cossacks—is preparing for an imperial revival, most recently in the form of a “Eurasian Union.” An essential book for understanding the dynamics of Putin’s regime, this study digs deep into the Kremlin’s secret long-term strategies. Readable and clearly argued, it makes a compelling case that Putin’s regime emulates an established Russian paradigm in which empire building and despotic rule are mutually reinforcing. As the first comprehensive exploration of the historical antecedents and political continuity of the Kremlin’s contemporary policies, Van Herpen’s work will make a valuable contribution to the literature on post-Soviet Russia, and his arguments will stimulate a fascinating and vigorous debate.

Table of Contents:
Author Note and Acknowledgments Glossary and Abbreviations Preface to the Second Edition Introduction –Russia: A Post-Imperium? –Structure of the Book –Notes Part I: Russia and the Curse of Empire Chapter One:Despotism and the Quest for Empire –Montesquieu, Rousseau, and Diderot: Early Critics of Russian Despotism –How Lost Wars Led to Short-Lived Reforms –The High Expectations of 1989 –The Four Roots of Russian Imperialism –Russian Despotism and Russian Imperialism: Inseparable Twin Brothers? –Notes Chapter Two:Comparing Western and Russian Legitimation Theories for Empire –Imperialist Legitimation Theories: Christianity, a Superior Civilization, and the White Man’s Burden –Social Darwinism: The Primacy of Naked Power –Three Russian Legitimation Theories for Imperial Expansion: Orthodoxy, Pan Slavism, and Communism –The Symbiosis of Church and State –A New Legitimation Theory: Pan Slavism –From Pan Slavism to Racism: Pogroms and Anti-Semitism –How the Russian Revolution Forged a New Legitimation Theory for Imperialist Expansion –Notes Chapter Three:Putin and the End of Russian “Empire Fatigue” –Empire Fatigue: A Chance of Becoming a “Normal State”? –Handling Post-Imperial Pain –Two Reactions to the Loss of Empire: To Accept or Not To Accept –Pitirim Sorokin and the Eternal Cycle of Ideologies in Revolutions –The Use of Nationalist Propaganda by the Leadership –In Search of a New Legitimation Theory for a Post-Soviet Empire –A New Ideological Triad: Orthodoxy, the Power Vertical, Sovereign Democracy –Notes Chapter Four:Putin’s Grand Design –Back to the USSR? From Commonwealth to the Russia- Belarus Union State –A Politically Inspired Customs Union –The CSTO: A Mini-Warsaw Pact? –The Shanghai Cooperation Organization: A Double-Edged Sword? –BRIC, BIC, BRICS, or BRIICS? –Notes Chapter Five:The Eurasian Union: Putin’s Newest Imperial Project –Precursors of the Eurasian Project: Igor Panarin and Aleksandr Dugin –Fear of Loss of Sovereignty –Eurasian Union Versus European Union –The Ultimate Goal: The Creation of a “Big Country” –Expansionism Even Beyond Former Soviet Frontiers? –The Eurasian Union as the Ultimate Integration Effort –Bringing Ukraine Back into the Russian Orbit –Notes Part II: The “Internal War” Chapter Six:Russia as a “Pluralist” One-Party State –A One-Party State with Four Parties? –East German Communist “Pluralism”: A Model for Putin? –The Use of Fake Political Parties –Unequalled Election Fraud –Mikhail Prokhorov’s Revolt against the Kremlin “Puppeteers” –Another Pseudo-Pluralism: The Diarchy at the Top –Notes Chapter Seven:Preaching the Ultranationalist Gospel: The Transformation of “United Russia” –The Ultranationalism and Revisionism of the Communist Party –“Unkulturaufstieg”: The Spread of Ultranationalist Ideas –Putin’s “State of the Union”: Touting Patriotism –Putin’s “Russian Idea”: State, State, and More State –National Rebirth and Consensus Building –United Russia’s Electoral Success: A CPSU Effect? –The Bear Wants to Fly: How United Russia Got Different Party Wings –United Russia’s New Ultranationalist Course –Russia’s Frontiers “Are Not Eternal” –Russia’s Rebirth –Notes Chapter Eight:The Nashi: Fascist Blackshirts or a New Komsomol? –“Walking Together”: Skinheads to Defend the Kremlin’s Message –Founding the Nashi: A Kremlin Initiative –“Patriotic Training” in Nashi Summer Camps –The Nashi Manifesto and “Megaproject Russia” –Harassing Diplomats and Internal Foes –Cyber Attacks –Preparing for More Muscled Actions: The Nashi Battle Groups –Orthodox Battle Groups? –A Historical Precedent: Khrushchev’s Druzhiny –The Nashi: Komsomol, Red Guards, or Hitlerjugend? –Notes Chapter Nine:Send in the Cossacks –The Rehabilitation of the Cossacks –Touting “Cossack Values” –The Role of the Cossacks in Post-Soviet Local Wars –Cossacks Patrolling the Streets –A New Praetorian Guard? –A Cossack Political Party –Notes Part III: The Wheels of War Chapter Ten:Three Lost Wars: From Afghanistan to the First Chechen War –The Cold War: Containment Versus Expansionism –The War in Afghanistan: Andropov’s War? –The First Chechen War: Four Differences with Former Wars –The First Chechen War: Yeltsin’s War –Chechnya: Russia’s Whipping Boy –A Genocide? –Notes Chapter Eleven:The Mysterious Apartment Bombings: Detonator of the Second Chechen War –The Detonator: A Secret War against the Russian Population? –Panic in the Family –A Real or Constructed Casus Belli? The Alleged Chechen Attack on Dagestan –Storm in Moscow –A Strange “Exercise” by the FSB –Foresight or Leaked Information? –The Duma Investigation Commission –Yeltsin on the Apartment Bombings –Notes Chapter Twelve: The Second Chechen War: Putin’s War –Bombardments: The Massive Slaughter –Kontraktniki: The Criminal Volunteers –Zachistki: The Purges –Filtration Points: Hiding Torture –Forced Disappearances and Blowing Up Dead Bodies –The Process of Chechenization –The War in Chechnya and the European Court of Human Rights –A Genocide? –Notes Chapter Thirteen:The War with Georgia, Part I: A Premeditated Russian Aggression –A Five-Day War? –The Russian-Georgian Cold War: The Passport Offensive –The Lukewarm War: Russian Provocations and Preparations for War –The Hot War: August 7–12, 2008 –Notes Chapter Fourteen:The War with Georgia, Part II: Six Events Announcing the Kremlin’s Preparation for War –A Slow-Motion Annexation? –The Central Question: Did Russian Troops Enter South Ossetia Before the War? –Notes Chapter Fifteen:The War with Georgia, Part III: The Propaganda War –Russia Accuses Georgia of Genocide –Ethnic Cleansing and Cluster Bombs –Does a Lie Told Often Enough Become a Truth? The Victim as Aggressor –The Real Reasons for Moscow’s Land Grab –Notes Chapter Sixteen:Origins of the War in Ukraine –The Kremlin’s Obsession with Ukraine –Post-Modern Europe: The Hubris of a Weak Continent –Political Mistakes by Leading European Politicians –Barack Obama’s Ill-Conceived Russia Policy –Consequences of the Ukrainian Crisis for Poland and Other New NATO Member States –Notes Chapter Seventeen:Russia’s “Hybrid War” in Ukraine: Five Scenarios –Putin’s Strategic Goals –Putin’s “Hybrid War” –What Will Happen Next? Five Scenarios –Putin’s Strategy: A Matryoshka Model? –Notes Chapter Eighteen:Conclusion –The Crucial Year 1997 Notes Bibliography About the Author

About the Author :
Marcel H. Van Herpen is director of the Cicero Foundation, Maastricht. His personal website is http://www.marcelhvanherpen.com.

Review :
The author analyzes the phenomenon of Russian imperialism, its origins, evolution, ideological foundations, and reciprocal ties with despotic rule in general. Van Herpen gives a detailed account of Putin’s revival of imperial doctrine and the related neocolonialist project of reintegrating post-Soviet space under the aegis of the Kremlin. . . . The book concludes with reflections on the Russian leadership’s ‘obsession’ with the ‘Ukrainian problem’ and its efforts to coerce Ukraine into joining the Eurasian Union by force. . . . The author’s logic is impeccable. In this sobering book, Marcel van Herpen ... reminds us that Russia’s actions, unlike those of other former European empires, demonstrate that decolonization is not an irreversible process. It is amazing that a book published in February could so accurately predict the way the war in Ukraine has unfolded in the half year since. That the Russia-West relationship has been deteriorating since Vladimir Putin came to power has commanded scholarly as well as political attention. Edward Lucas's The New Cold War (2008) is among the earliest analyses of the glide into confrontational politics. Van Herpen contributes to this discourse by focusing on a specific aspect of Moscow's challenge to the West: Russia's ‘new imperialism.’ He takes a comprehensive approach to his argument, considering the historical as well as political and cultural contexts of Putin's effort to maintain dominance within a sphere of influence encompassing the former Soviet Union. Among other things, van Herpen describes the organizational devices used by Moscow for this purpose, including the Eurasian Union, and the ambitious Collective Security Treaty Organization. Use of coercive measures as well as force to maintain a sphere of influence is the subject of nearly half of the book, which includes an overview of the two Chechen Wars and a detailed account of the Russian-Georgia War. The author ends with a consideration of the ‘Kremlin's obsession with Ukraine.’ Most timely! The book is recommended as a well-documented, well-argued, and strong criticism of Moscow's foreign policy. Summing Up: Recommended. General readers, undergraduate students, graduate students, and research faculty. Van Herpen asserts in a timely new book, Putin’s Wars, that the Russian leader deliberately launched two wars after coming to power in 1999, first in Chechnya and then in Georgia, and that his relative success in both led directly to his current drive to dismember Ukraine. . . . Drawing on a wide variety of Russian sources, Van Herpen documents how Russia’s FSB intelligence agency, under Putin’s direction, staged a series of explosions directed against civilian targets in Moscow and other cities. He notes that no Chechen has ever been put on trial for the bombings of apartment buildings, and the parliamentary commission set up to investigate the attacks had to stop its work because of a lack of cooperation from the Russian government. Marcel Van Herpen's warnings of a new Russian empire in the making became reality in early 2014 just after the publication of the first edition of this book, when Vladimir Putin organized a clandestine takeover of the Crimea, while likewise secretly backing separatist movements in the eastern Ukraine. Putin's Wars argues incisively that Russian actions are primarily offensive and driven by domestic factors in the quest to rebuild a new Russian empire after Soviet collapse, rather than primarily defensive, and driven in response to external factors such as the uncoordinated NATO and European Union enlargements. Whether or not one sees the new Russian imperialism as essentially offensive or defensive, the book raises thought-provoking questions as to how the United States and Europe should best respond to Russian pan-nationalist militancy and Putin's quest to forge a Eurasian alliance.