Where Does Russia’s Violent Imperialism Come From?

Ilya Budraitskis and Ilya Matveev’s new book, Russia’s New Imperialism, has a new and compelling answer. Analysts of Russia seem to have been caught on two sides of a divide. One side sees Russia as nothing more than money-making mafia racket, populated by political entrepreneurs scrambling to anticipate what the Kremlin wants and make the most money for themselves as they go. Cynical and corrupt, this Russia has no truck with grand ideas. On the other side are those who see ideology everywhere, arguing that Russia is an imperialist and nationalist country packed with ideological zealots. Driven by centuries of…