Beyond Crimea: The New Russian Empire by Agnia Grigas

Abstract

Reviewed by: Beyond Crimea: The New Russian Empire by Agnia Grigas Kirstyn Leigh Hevey (bio) Agnia Grigas. Beyond Crimea: The New Russian Empire. xi + 352 pp. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2016. ISBN 9780300214505. In Beyond Crimea: The New Russian Empire, Agnia Grigas systematically explores and evaluates Russian foreign policy towards its “compatriots”: ethnic Russians residing abroad, Russian-language speakers, and descendants of the Soviet Union. Grigas proposes a theory of Russian re-imperialism, rooted in a trajectory of historical continuity between Putin and his tsarist and Soviet predecessors, to explain the apparently revanchist and resurgent Russia. Grigas enhances our understanding of Moscow’s policies, particularly those directed at Russian “compatriots,” while also contributing to wider theoretical debates about Russian reimperialization, soft power, and politics of citizenship. In an increasingly populated body of literature, the author complements those who consider the driving factors behind Russian attempts to maintain and regain influence and territory in the former Soviet Republics since the early 2000s. In the first three chapters of Beyond Crimea, Grigas sets the framework of her historical-structural approach and establishes the crucial role of the “compatriots” to the seven-stage Russian reimperialization trajectory. Chapters 4, 5, 6, and 7 include case studies of each of the former Soviet Republics, tracing the reimperialization policy trajectory—a massive undertaking for 256 pages of text. Grigas argues that Moscow has successfully begun its process of reimperialization in the Baltic States, Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine, and to a lesser extent, in Armenia and Belarus, with little avail in Central Asia. However, in all cases the impact of Russian soft power is discernible. In conclusion, Grigas proposes a series of countermeasures for target states to be taken at each stage of the reimperialization trajectory. By adopting a historical-structural approach, Grigas effectively calls our attention to compatriot policies, an underresearched area of Russian politics, and asserts that the annexation of Crimea was part of a broader policy-course. Grigas argues that “Moscow has pursued an increasingly consistent seven-stage reimperialization policy trajectory toward its compatriots” (26). The Russian government, especially under Vladimir Putin, uses ethnic Russians and Russian speakers to extend its influence and expand its borders. In doing so, Grigas argues, the Russian government is guided by larger structural and historical predilections—the Russian self-perception of empire, the culture of a strong leader, and energy and security politics—which are paramount in the quest for Russian reimperialization. Although Grigas notes a shift in Russian foreign policy beginning in the early 2000s, Moscow has increasingly paid attention to its compatriots in the former Soviet republics. For the author, the seven stages through which the Russian reimperialization project unfolds begin with (1) soft power (cultural, economic, and linguistic-based [End Page 311] modes of influence), which leads to (2) humanitarian policies of support and aid, (3) compatriot policies and formalized outreach, (4) information warfare urging immediate compatriot protection, (5) passportization, (6) compatriot protections, and ends with (7) annexation. The author notes that the steps may occur simultaneously, in a different order, or may even be skipped, although such causal complexity is not evidenced in the case studies. Instead, the cases fall along the continuum to varying extents. The seven-stage policy trajectory is an explanatory tool, and when applied to the former Soviet Republics, Grigas demonstrates commonalities of disparate events—the Russian annexation of Crimea, Russian cyber-attacks on Estonia, and Russian peacekeeping missions in Tajikistan—with the very same underlying Russian policy strategy. Grigas groups the former Soviet republics’ case studies according to where the states fall along the trajectory. To date, the Central Asian states have largely experienced modes of influence via Russian soft power, whereas the policy trajectory has reached the point of passportization in the Baltic States. Further along the continuum, violent conflict has occurred in South Ossetia, Abkhazia, and Transnistria. The final stage of the reimperialization process has only been reached in 2014, the territorial annexation of Crimea. In each case-study chapter, Grigas outlines the former Soviet republics’ relations with Russia, with the Russian compatriots, Russian interests and motives in the given state, and then evaluates the target state’s place on the reimperialization trajectory. In providing the...