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The Country of the Week is Russia!

Feel free to post or recommend any books, essays, studies, articles, and even stories related to Russia.

If you know a lot about the country and want to share your knowledge and opinions, here are some questions to get you started if you wish:

• What is the general ideology of the political elite? Do they tend to be protectionist nationalists, or are they more free trade globalists? Are they compradors put there by foreign powers? Are they socialists with wide support by the population?
• What are the most important domestic political issues that make the country different from other places in the region or world? Are there any peculiar problems that have continued existing despite years or decades with different parties?
• Is the country generally stable? Are there large daily protests or are things calm on average? Is the ruling party/coalition generally harmonious or are there frequent arguments or even threats?
• Is there a particular country to which this country has a very impactful relationship over the years, for good or bad reasons? Which one, and why?
• What are the political factions in the country? What are the major parties, and what segments of the country do they attract?
• Are there any smaller parties that nonetheless have had significant influence? Are there notable separatist movements?
• How socially progressive or conservative is the country generally? To what degree is there equality between men and women, as well as different races and ethnic groups? Are LGBTQIA+ rights protected?
• Give a basic overview of the last 50 or 100 years. What's the historical trend of politics, the economy, social issues, etc - rise or decline? Were they always independent or were they once occupied, and how have things been since independence if applicable?
• If you want, go even further back in history. Were there any kingdoms or empires that once governed the area?

Here's some books on Russia/USSR on our reading list:

These books focus on general history and politics:

• Russia and the Long Transition from Capitalism to Socialism by Samir Amin (2016).

These books focus on history and politics prior to the Russian Revolution:

• The Development of Capitalism in Russia by Vladimir Lenin (1899).

These books focus on the Russian Revolution:

• 10 Days That Shook The World by John Reed (1919).
• History of the Russian Revolution by Leon Trotsky (1930).
• Red Petrograd: Revolution in the Factories, 1917–1918 by S. A. Smith (1983).
• October: The Story of the Russian Revolution by China Mieville (2017).
• The Russian Revolution: A View from the Third World by Walter Rodney (2018).

These books focus on the Soviet Union:

• Karl Marx Collective: Economy, Society and Religion in a Siberian Collective Farm by Caroline Humphrey (1983).
• Human Rights in the Soviet Union: Including Comparisons with the USA by Albert Syzmanski (1984).
• Molotov Remembers: Inside Kremlin Politics by Felix Chuev (1993).
• The Soviet Century by Moshe Lewin (2003).
• The Years of Hunger: Soviet Agriculture, 1931-1933 by R. Davies and Stephen G. Wheatcroft (2004).
• Empire of Nations: Ethnographic Knowledge and the Making of the Soviet Union by Francine Hirsch (2005).
• A Failed Empire: The Soviet Union in the Cold War from Stalin to Gorbachev by Vladislav Zubok (2007). Anti-Stalin, Anti-Khruschev, and anti-Gorbachev, so a real Everyone Here Sucks dude.
• Stalin: History and Critique of a Black Legend by Domenico Losurdo (2008).
• Inside Lenin’s Government: Ideology, Power and Practice in the Early Soviet State by Lara Douds (2018).

These books focus on the fall of the Soviet Union:

• Perestroika: The Complete Collapse of Revisionism by Harpal Brar (1992).
• Heroic Struggle, Bitter Defeat: Factors Contributing to the Dismantling of the Socialist State in the Soviet Union by Bahman Azad (2000).
• Socialism Betrayed: Behind the Collapse of the Soviet Union by Roger Keeran and Thomas Kenny (2004).
• Collapse: The Fall of the Soviet Union by Vladislav M. Zubok (2021). Same context as above.

These books focus on post-Soviet Russia:

• Russia Without Putin: Money, Power and the Myths of the New Cold War by Tony Wood (2018).

These books focus on indigenous history and politics:

• Arctic Mirrors: Russia and the Small Peoples of the North by Yuri Slezkine (1994).
• When the North was Red: Aboriginal Education In Soviet Siberia by Alice L. Bartels and Dennis Bartels (1995).
• Floating Coast: An Environmental History of the Bering Strait by Bathsheba Demuth (2019).