The volume makes no effort to settle the questions raised, or to impose a particular answer. Migranyan is the most optimistic among the authors that the Putin administration is laying the foundations for a lasting, effective democratic regime in Russia, while others express varying degrees of skepticism. The book explicitly leaves the reader with the assessment that the contributors “differ sharply” on whether there are conditions that are necessary for democracy to take greater root in Russia and whether the possibility would be realized in the near future. Migranyan as the sponsor and Przeworski as the editor of the English version assume that an open debate between among Western and Russian contributors advances the cause of dialogue, and the spirit of the volume is one of civil disagreement, rather than the open polemics that so often now define any sort of debate or discussion about contemporary Russia.

Yet there is one conclusion that seems to be shared across the board, and that is that the fate of democracy in Russia is a question that will be settled largely by Russians themselves (and similarly in places like China), depending how domestic processes and trends work themselves out, not based on any sort of Western intervention. In contrast to the ongoing debate within the U.S. democracy promotion community over the efficacy of American and Western efforts, the authors do not ascribe much hope that either outside pressure or guidance will have much impact on the trajectory of Russian politics. Those hoping for rapid political change in Russia along liberal lines, in the hopes that this in turn will produce a low-cost way for alleviating America’s geopolitical problems with Russia, will not find this volume reassuring. However, those interested in exploring questions related to how democratic transitions take root and institutionalize over time will find much of use and interest in this work.

Nikolas Gvosdev is a contributing editor at The National Interest and co-author of Russian Foreign Policy: Vectors, Sectors and Interests (CQ Press, 2013). The views expressed here are his own.

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