Review: Russia Faces Nato Expansion
| Published date | 01 June 2000 |
| DOI | 10.1177/002070200005500215 |
| Date | 01 June 2000 |
| Author | James H. Taylor |
| Subject Matter | Review |
Reviews
view,
has
compensated
for
the inadequacies
of
the
party
system
and
the
irresponsibility
of
the
Duma,
working
over
time
to
squeeze
extremism
to
the
margins.
Given the
atomized
and
mistrustful
society
left
by
communism,
Nichols
believes
the
slow
development
of
the
institutions
of
civil
soci-
ety,
including
parties,
has
been
inevitable.
Nor
does
the
authoritarian
dimension
of
the
presidency
overly
disturb
him;
this
he
sees
less as
a
sign
of
reversion
to
the
bad
old
days
than
as
a
temporary
necessity.
He
is
encouraged
by
the speed
and
sophistication
with
which
Russians
have
learned to
manage
their
democracy.
He
does
not
exclude
a
future
in
which
the presidency
is
strengthened
in
a
democratic, rather
than
authoritarian,
sense,
and
brought
into
balance
with
a
more
coherent
and
responsible
legislature
and
party
system.
While rooted
in
a
view
of
Russian
society,
this
book
is
essentially
a
work
of
political
and
consti-
tutional
analysis. A
survey
of
contemporary
Russia
concentrating
more
on
social
and
economic
affairs
might
well
have
struck
a
more somber
note.
Meanwhile,
it
is
good
to
see
the
case
for
reasonable
optimism
presented.
James
H.
Taylor/Ottawa
RUSSIA FACES
NATO
EXPANSION
J.L.
Black
Lanham
MD:
Rowman
&
Littlefield,
2000,
xi,
2 6
3pp,
us$29.95,
ISBN
0-8476-9866-1
The
first
section
of
this
book
traces
Russian reactions
to
the
expansion
of
NATO
as
reflected
in
the
Russian
press,
particularly
in
the
period
1997-99.
The
second
section
-
also
based
largely
on
the
Russian
press
-
shows
how
the expansion
of
NATO
created 'ripple
effects'
on
Russia's
relations
elsewhere:
with
Ukraine,
the
Baltic
states,
Iran,
Iraq,
Yugoslavia,
India,
China, and
so
on.
The
analysis
reveals
that
all
signif-
icant sections
of
Russian
opinion,
even
the
most
pro-Western,
were
disturbed
by
the
enlargement
of
NATO.
Moderates
were
seriously
con-
cerned;
nationalists
and
communists
were
outraged.
The
author
rejects
entirely
the
view
of
people
like
Zbigniew
Brzezinski
and
Madeleine
Albright
that
only
a
tiny
61ite
in Russia cared
about
the
issue.
On
the
contrary,
he
believes
the
current
of
Russian
INTERNATIONAL
JOURNAL
Spring2000
331
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