The conflict between Russia and Ukraine is the most dangerous one in the world: it has the potential to draw the United States into another great European war. In this book, two widely recognized authorities on the two countries involved provide a clear, compelling, and eminently readable account of the origins, the nature, and the possible futures of the conflict, and of the implications for Europe and America.
Michael Mandelbaum, Christian A. Herter Professor of American Foreign Policy, The Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, and author of The Road to Global Prosperity
Conflict in Ukraine provides a timely assessment of one of several recent strategic developments that mark the passing of the 'post–Cold War' world. The careful attention to the subtle interplay of domestic and international politics, and of history and current events, is all too rare in foreign policy analysis. Though the book places the bulk of responsibility for the military escalation of the dispute over Ukraine's future on Russia, the authors scrupulously assess the roles of Ukraine itself, the U.S., and Europe in setting the stage for the ultimate crisis. The authors are modest about their ability to predict, but they lay out a set of plausible hypotheses about the likely course of the dispute, which we can employ to order new facts as they emerge.
Barry R. Posen, Ford International Professor of Political Science and Director of the Security Studies Program, MIT, and author of Restraint: A New Foundation for U.S. Grand Strategy
Despite its swift and timely appearance, Conflict in Ukraine is not your usual instant book rushed out to capitalize on a current crisis. Drawing on impeccable expertise built up over decades, Menon and Rumer provide an elegantly described context for understanding the history, politics, and economics of the showdown over Ukraine. They convincingly argue that Ukraine's crisis is a symptom of larger geopolitical trends that require hard-headed planning for a new security architecture for Europe.
Jack Snyder, Robert and Renée Belfer Professor of International Relations, Saltzman Institute of War and Peace Studies, Columbia University
A short and insightful primer that concentrates on the current crisis to give readers a brief but useful introduction to the history of the country.
Tim Judah
New York Review of Books
Rajon Menon and Eugene Rumer complicate the conventional story by providing a thoughtful analysis of the key political, economic, and historical factors that eventually led to the current rupture in Russian-Ukrainian relations.
The New Rambler
Here is a calm, clear alternative to the many emotional efforts to place blame for the crisis in Ukraine on one side alone.....Menon and Rumer leave no doubt about the boundaries Russia crossed in seizing Crimea and fueling the war in eastern Ukraine, but they do not settle for the common one-dimensional explanation that attributes Russian actions to President Vladimir Putin's alleged imperial fantasies.... The modest length of the book and its crisp prose complement the efficiency and restraint of the analysis.
Foreign Affairs
... as a piece of desk research, bringing together the hundreds of reports and references that combine to describe the position as it was when the manuscript was finalised, and how that situation came about, the book is nothing short of exemplary.
East-West Review: Journal of the Great Britain-Russia Society
