Chris Miller is the author of Putinomics: Power and Money in Resurgent Russia and The Struggle to Save the Soviet Economy. An Associate Professor of International History at Tufts University, he writes for the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, Foreign Affairs, and Foreign Policy.
As much of the world now turns more attention and resources to
Asia, partly in response to China’s emergence as a global power,
Miller’s terrific book reminds that Russia made moves toward the
East five hundred years ago, and explains why ignoring the Russian
factor in Asian geopolitics today would be a big mistake for
strategists in Tokyo, Delhi, Brussels, or Washington. His masterful
history shows why Russia has been an Asian power for centuries and
will remain a central player in balance-of-power politics in Asia
for decades to come.
*Michael McFaul, author of From Cold War to Hot Peace: An
American Ambassador in Putin’s Russia*
In a panoramic account of three hundred years of Russian history,
Miller presents a Russia little known in the West: a Eurasian power
that treats its eastern calling as seriously as it does its western
one. Exceptionally well written and argued, We Shall Be Masters
helps us understand Russia on its own terms and offers historical
insight into the future of its relations with China, its main rival
and occasional ally in the region and the world.
*Serhii Plokhy, author of Nuclear Folly: A History of the Cuban
Missile Crisis*
A sweeping overview of Russia’s long-running pattern of aspiring to
yet often falling short of securing lasting influence over Asian
affairs. Engaging and impressively researched, Miller’s book offers
an insightful historical perspective on contemporary Russian–Asian
relations.
*Willard Sunderland, author of The Baron’s Cloak: A History of
the Russian Empire in War and Revolution*
Few historians have probed as deeply into the complex history of
Russia’s imperial engagements in East Asia as Miller has done here.
He weaves a subtle theme through a sweep of events, as Russian
tsars, officials, diplomats, and explorers are lured east in
various ‘spasms of enthusiasm,’ only for these various pivots to
peter out owing to military failure, excessive cost, or simple
exhaustion. A supple, well-written, and important work.
*Sean McMeekin, author of Stalin’s War: A New History of World
War II*
Miller’s broad historical overview of Russian foreign policy in
Asia challenges the conventional view that the country has enduring
interests in the Far East…For Russia, Miller argues, Asia has been
a land of unfulfilled promises.
*Foreign Affairs*
A rich and well-informed chronicle of Russia’s engagement with Asia
over the past three centuries…Captures the immensity, complexity,
and importance of Russia’s eastern borderlands through the eyes of
its explorers…A comprehensive and fluidly written survey that will
be welcomed by students of international history.
*Publishers Weekly*
A sweeping and fast-paced tour through the last three hundred years
of Russian foreign policy…It is, therefore, a welcome addition to
the literature on Imperial Russian and Soviet foreign policy toward
Asia.
*H-Net Reviews*
[A] highly readable history…The over-ambitious, over-committed and
over-confident policies of modern Russia through the globalization
period and the rise of Asia in the 21st century mimics the hubris
of Petersburg’s historical Pacific Ocean ambitions.
*Global Asia*
[A] comprehensive and informative account of Russia’s historical
outreach to Asia…Vladimir Putin became the latest Russian leader to
pursue a pivot to Asia from 2014. Yet, argues Miller, there are
limits to this strategy.
*Survival*
|
Ask a Question About this Product More... |
|
