The Tragedy of Russia’s Reforms presents a boldly original analysis of the collapse of the Soviet Union and the birth of the Russian state. The keys to understanding these events, the authors argue, are the prescriptions of Western “transitologists,” the International Monetary Fund, and advocates of economic “shock therapy.” These prescriptions allowed the nomenklatura and the financial “oligarchs” to acquire Russia’s industrial and natural resources and to heavily influence the country’s political destiny. In this long-awaited, sweeping interpretation, the authors skillfully place the contemporary Russian experience in the context of history, political theory, and Russia’s place in the international system.

Journalist Anatol Lieven here explores the complex ethnic and political relationship of Ukraine and Russia. Based on extensive interviews, Lieven provides a fascinating portrait of the diversity that is contemporary Ukraine and of its efforts to forge a national identity after three centuries of Russian rule.

Lieven’s journeys take him into ethnic Russian enclaves in Crimea and eastern Ukraine and to the western bastions of Ukrainian nationalism. But they also reveal an intermingling (and intermarriage) of both ethnic groups throughout much of the country.

With trenchant observations and an eye for the telling detail, Lieven examines the policy implications of Eastern Europe’s new political geography. Will ethnic coexistence endure in the face of economic hardship and the divisive issues left over from the Soviet era? Is it wise for the West to force the issue of Ukraine’s membership in Western institutions—NATO first and foremost among them?

Examines the complex history of the Ukrainian conflict, explores the contending claims of the different churches, and analyzes the prospects for resolution.

In Youth and Post-Conflict Reconstruction: Agents of Change, Stephanie Schwartz goes beyond these highly publicized cases and examines the roles of the broader youth population in post-conflict scenarios, taking on the complex task of distinguishing between the legal and societal labels of “child,” “youth,” and “adult.”