Lonely Power: Why Russia Has Failed to Become the West and the West is Weary of Russia

Today's Russia proves that appearances can be deceiving. The Kremlin's modernization mantra and liberal rhetoric attempt to keep alive a system based on personalized power. While rapprochement with the West is seen as a way to import technology, attract investment, and gain economically, Russia's elite is trying to protect an anti-Western system that preserves its rule.

Is it possible to reform the Russian system from the top? Could technological innovation help Russia's political liberalization? What are the domestic roots of Russia's foreign policy and how sustainable is the current reset with the United States?

In Lonely Power, adapted from the Russian version, Lilia Shevtsova questions the veracity of clichTs about Russiauby both insiders and outsidersuand analyzes Russia's trajectory and how the West influences the country's modernization.

Rejection of political reform in Russia risks the gradual decay of the country or even state collapse. Russia can break this vicious circle only if it rejects personalized power and if the West helps Russia transform economically and politically.

Lilia shevtsova is a senior associate at the Carnegie Moscow Center, where she chairs the Russian Domestic Politics and Political Institutions Program. She is also associate fellow at the Royal Institute of International Affairs (Chatham House).