New Book (2): Kulikovo 1380: the battle that made Russia
The second of the three books of mine coming out in February is in the Osprey ‘Campaign’ series. CAM 332, Kulikovo 1380: the battle that made Russia looks at this battle that was a genuine triumph for...
View ArticleNew Book (3): Russian Political War: moving beyond the hybrid
The third of my crop of books out this month is Russian Political War: moving beyond the hybrid from Routledge, a study of what I think we should be talking about instead of ‘hybrid war’ (let alone the...
View ArticleMueller, Putin, Trump, and the Russian ‘adhocracy’
For some time now I have been pushing the notion that Putin’s Russia is best understood as an ‘adhocracy’, which I define in my ECFR report Controlling Chaos as a system in which the true elite is...
View ArticleIvan Golunov, Jan Kuciak, and the politics of the last straw (or the last...
I’m always wary of grand claims that “everything has suddenly changed”, not least because specific events tend rather to be the dots on the graph that show us wider processes and trends rather than...
View ArticleNew Book (4): Armies of Russia’s War in Ukraine
It’s actually been out a couple of weeks now, but a quick note that my latest Osprey book, on this dismal, running conflict, is now out. The usual Osprey approach: some history, some analysis, orders...
View ArticleSome thoughts on the security side of Saturday’s Moscow crackdown
I enjoy going to Moscow for all kinds of reasons. One of, perhaps, the most recondite is the chance to take an up-close look at the security forces when there are some major public order deployments....
View ArticleA first thought on “Vadim Sokolov”: FSB
On 23 August, Chechen-born Georgian-citizen Zelimkhan Khangoshvili, a long-time enemy of the Kremlin and its Chechen satrap Kadyrov, was gunned down in Berlin. The assassin shot him in the shoulder,...
View ArticleQuick thoughts about the GRU’s Unit 29155
The New York Times has an interesting piece about a GRU unit known as Unit 29155, which is describes as “an elite unit inside the Russian intelligence system skilled in subversion, sabotage and...
View ArticleWhat might study of gangsters possibly say about the Islamic State’s search...
I should start with the necessary warning that I don’t see myself in any way as an expert on Islamic State, although I have done a little work on their efforts to radicalise in the North Caucasus and...
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‘Security Insights’ on Russia
I’m fortunate to be part of a research project based at the George C Marshall Centre for European Security Studies looking at Russian strategic intentions and institutions, and as part of that I – like...
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What does Boris Johnson’s win mean for…Russia?
Boris Johnson and Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov There are so many more salient questions – what will this mean for British politics, for the post-Brexit trade negotiations, for the NHS? – but it is...
View ArticleCorrespondences between the Donald and the Ivan: a not-deeply-thought-through...
I would not suggest that Donald Trump and Ivan the Terrible are that similar, but reading the US president’s frankly rather bizarre letter to Nancy Pelosi about impeachment, I was struck by a...
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A quick update on Putin’s ‘January Revolution’
How can we know for sure what he’s thinking? I don’t have the time to write anything substantive here, nor the inspiration, given that I’ve already penned three articles on this week’s news. For those...
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Next Book: A Short History of Russia
My next book is A Short History of Russia, coming out in the UK at the end of April with Ebury (details here) and July in the US with Hanover Square (details here). Is is possible to squeeze all of...
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Review: ‘We Are Building Capitalism!’
‘We Are Building Capitalism! Moscow in Transition, 1992-1997’, by Robert Stephenson (Glagoslav, 2019, ISBN 978-1-912894-02-4) In this age of smartphones, Instagram, dashcams and drones, we count on a...
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New Book: Combat Vehicles of Russia’s Special Forces
Admittedly, a touch more recondite than A Short History of Russia, but my next book from Osprey, due out in May, will be Combat Vehicles of Russia’s Special Forces, now available for pre-order. Given...
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New Book: ‘A Short History of Russia’
I’ve just received the advance author’s copy of the UK version of my new book ‘A Short History of Russia‘ (all Russian history in 190 pages!). Because of the impact on COVID-19 on the world of the...
View ArticleThe In Moscow’s Shadows podcast – coming soon!
Having decided to surrender to popular request and my own hubris, an IMS podcast is on the way. Quite what is covered, how often it comes out and how long it lasts depends in part up to you, so watch...
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The In Moscow’s Shadows podcast is out now!
The first episode of the podcast is out! In due course you’ll be able to find it on Apple/Google/Stitcher and other podcast directories, but in the meantime you can listen to it on Soundcloud, here....
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New Book: Combat Vehicles of Russia’s Special Forces
My author’s copies of this new Osprey book have arrived, so this clearly is still on track to be published on 28 May, as planned, COVID-19 be damned! It’s available for pre-order, and you can find...
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