Russian Regions and Regionalism: Strength through Weakness by Graeme P. s> Herd Anne Aldis (review)

Abstract

978 SEER, 82, 4, 2004 consequences of ethnodemographic change in Russia upon the political landscape of that country. Its sections on language are of an equally high standard and the analysis of politics and identity in the Sakha Republic represents one of the, if not thehighpoint in the entire volume. It is wellwritten and truly informative. Finally the concluding chapter 'Globalization and Fragmentation...', provides a fitting end to the volume. The chapter highlights some important implications that the globalization process has for evolving states such as Russia, and poses questions concerning the nature of the Russian political centre. Above all it avoids giving the reader the impressionthat the chapterhas been added because globalizationis somehow important and therefore ought to be a topic of discussion regardless of the main subjectmatter. Whereas thisvolume may not be suitablefor any but the most advanced of undergraduates it is of eminent use for postgraduates, academics and practitionersin the field. As mentioned earlierin the review, this volume is a valuable addition to the corpus. School ofSociology, PoliticsandLaw KARL CORDELL University ofPlymouth Herd, Graeme P. and Aldis,Anne (eds).Russian Regions andRegionalism: Strength through Weakness. RoutledgeCurzon, London and New York,2003. xv. + 304 pp. Maps. Figures. Tables. Notes. Appendix. Bibliography. Index. $95.00. ONE of the most interesting and remarkable aspects of the changes to the process of governance that has takenplace in Russia since the collapse of the Soviet Union has been the accumulation of power by the variousregions that comprise the new state. Encouraged, no matter how opportunistically,and indeed idiosyncratically,by former President Boris El'tsin, the regions and their corresponding political elites have emerged as major players in postSoviet Russian politics. This volume seeks to address these facts and their implications,and forthe mostpartachievesitsgoalswith a seeminglyeffortless ease. The editors have divided the book into three main parts. The introductory chapters outline the basis of centre-periphery relations in the El'tsin and Putin years respectively.In so doing, Graeme P. Herd and Anne Aldis deftly demonstrate the asymmetrical nature of the federal system establishedby the El'tsinpresidency,and PresidentPutin'svariousschemesto change the nature of Russian federalism by strengthening the centre at the expense of the periphery.The contrastin leadershipstylesbetween Putin and his apparent mentor is sharply drawn. As a result the consequences of such dissimilaritiesare similarlythrowninto sharprelief. The second part deals with various thematic aspects central to any appreciation of how this vast state operates. In a general sense, the reader is left with an appreciation of the Byzantine nature of the Russian state and the enormity of the task that faces the centre in its attempts to bring about a genuinely coherent federal structure.Particularlynoteworthy are Alexander Sergounin'scontributionon the interplaybetween domestic and international REVIEWS 979 features in Russia's regional politics, and Pavel Baev's chapter on military aspects of regionalism. Crucially, the former (p. ii o) points to the difficulties of creatinga trulynationalpartysystem,and by implicationuniversalnational policies within an environmentthat is conducive to the politics of regionalism. Forhis part, Baev neatly untangles the web of relationshipsthat exists within the armed forces and the competing demands made upon and by what he labels an 'imperial presidency'. In so doing he throws light upon the dysfunctionaldecision-makingprocessesthatled to the two Chechen wars. Partthree consistsof a seriesof case studies.Worthyof specialattention are Stanislav Tkachenko's contribution on Saint Petersburg,and Steven Main's piece on Kaliningrad. Tkachenko points to the historic uniqueness of Saint Petersburgas a city that has long seen itself as a firmly'Western'outpost and how in post-Soviet Russia this orientation has facilitated the growth of a particularly vibrant, albeit sometimes opaque, style of governance. In his contributionon Kaliningrad,Main sparesthe readersensationalisticaccounts of the city and wider oblastas a hotbed of criminality and instead sensibly focuses upon the various strategies that have been employed to utilize the exclave'sposition to the benefit of the region and itsinhabitants.In turn, Oleg Alexandrov'scontributionon Moscow neatlyjuxtaposes the seeming paradox that in termsof governance, the city is both centre and periphery.His analysis of Iurii Luzhkov's stormy relationship with the Kremlin is particularly illuminating.As for the remainingcontributionsto thissection, they all have a great deal of merit. Having said that, it...