The Lands in Between: Russia vs. the West and the New Politics of Hybrid War - Paperback

by Mitchell A. Orenstein (Author)

In 2007, Russia launched a hybrid war on the West to preserve its influence in the "lands in between" Russia and the European Union (EU), countries that had left the Soviet Union and gravitated towards an enlarged EU and NATO. Since Russia's meddling in the US presidential election in 2016 and its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, this conflict has altered the politics of all countries involved. Just as the lands in between face a civilizational choice between a future in EU Europe or a revived Russian empire, Western countries must choose between dictatorship and democracy. Yet some politicians benefit from maneuvering between both sides in a conflict that seems to demand loyalty, but often rewards flexibility. This book shows that studying the polarized politics that have afflicted the lands in between for decades helps us to better understand the paradoxes of Western politics in an age of hybrid war.

Author Biography

Mitchell A. Orenstein is Professor of Russian and East European Studies at the University of Pennsylvania and Senior Fellow of the Foreign Policy Research Institute's Eurasia Program. He is the author of three prize-winning books on postcommunist transitions and co-author of From Triumph to Crisis: Neoliberal Reform in Postcommunist Countries (with Hilary Appel).