• Research
  • Politika
  • About
Carnegie Russia Eurasia center logoCarnegie lettermark logo
  • Donate
Change or Decay: Russia's Dilemma and the West's Response
Book
Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center

Change or Decay: Russia's Dilemma and the West's Response

Two decades after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the West has yet to adjust to the post-Soviet reality and Russia has not settled on its relationship with the rest of the world.

Link Copied
By Lilia Shevtsova and Andrew Wood
Published on Oct 31, 2011

Additional Links

Executive SummaryPaperback - $19.95Hardback - $49.95iTunes - $9.99Nook - $10.39Kindle - $9.99Sony Reader - $9.59

Source: Washington

The world is still coping with the consequences of the collapse of the Soviet Union. Two decades later, the West has yet to adjust to the post-Soviet reality and Russia has not settled on its relationship with the rest of the world.

In Change or Decay, two of the most respected scholars on Russia analyze how relations are shifting between Russia and the world. In a series of lively and candid conversations, Lilia Shevtsova and Andrew Wood discuss how the Russia of Putin and Medvedev emerged from the ashes of the Soviet Union and the trajectory of Russia’s relations with the West.

Advance Praise

“This book attacks the widely held myths and illusions that have for so long governed both the evolution of Russia and the ideas of Russia held by the outside world. It’s a lively book made still better by flashes of humor. You may agree with it, or dispute it. You may like some of it, and hate the rest. But read it.”

—Mikhail Gorbachev, former president of the Soviet Union, Nobel Peace Prize winner, and president of the Gorbachev Foundation

About the Authors

Lilia Shevtsova

Former Senior Associate, Russian Domestic Politics and Political Institutions Program, Moscow Center

Shevtsova chaired the Russian Domestic Politics and Political Institutions Program at the Carnegie Moscow Center, dividing her time between Carnegie’s offices in Washington, DC, and Moscow. She had been with Carnegie since 1995.

Andrew Wood

Authors

Lilia Shevtsova
Former Senior Associate, Russian Domestic Politics and Political Institutions Program, Moscow Center
Lilia Shevtsova
Andrew Wood

Additional Links

Executive SummaryPaperback - $19.95Hardback - $49.95iTunes - $9.99Nook - $10.39Kindle - $9.99Sony Reader - $9.59
CaucasusRussiaForeign Policy

Carnegie does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.

More Work from Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center

  • Commentary
    Carnegie Politika
    Russia’s Rubber-Stamp Duma Elections Are Exposing Schisms in Putin's Regime

    In the discussions made possible by the State Duma election campaign, one question is being asked more and more loudly. “What next?”

      Andrey Pertsev

  • Commentary
    Carnegie Politika
    Russia’s Best-Placed Political Émigrés Are Those With Nothing to Lose

    While the Nazis rushed ahead in a revolutionary fervor, Russia’s modern crusaders against enemies of the state work methodically, giving their targets time to adjust to restrictions before closing the loopholes.

      Leonid Bershidsky

  • Commentary
    Carnegie Politika
    Russia Is Exporting Its Fuel Crisis to Central Asia

    When faced with fuel shortages in the past, Central Asian governments could always count on additional supplies from Moscow. That safety net no longer exists.

      Galiya Ibragimova

  • Commentary
    Carnegie Politika
    What Do the Hacked Messages of ‘Putin’s Goddaughter’ Ksenia Sobchak Reveal About Russian Politics?

    Reading the purported correspondence of celebrity Ksenia Sobchak sheds light on her role within the system, and how journalism and politics function in Putin’s Russia.   

      Vladislav Gorin

  • Commentary
    Carnegie Politika
    Russia Is Not Even a Contender in the Global AI Race

    When political power is concentrated in the hands of a small circle of people, a country invariably ends up with technological stagnation.

      Aleksei Kiselev

Get more news and analysis from
Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center
Carnegie Russia Eurasia logo, white
  • Research
  • Politika
  • About
  • Experts
  • Events
  • Contact
  • Privacy
  • For Media
Get more news and analysis from
Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center
© 2026 Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. All rights reserved.