| International Relations |
| Political Ideologies |
| Comparative Politics |
| Russian & Former Soviet Union |
| World |
| Political Science |
Summary
Summary
No detailed description available for "Weak Strongman".
Reviews (2)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Frye (Property Rights and Property Wrongs), a professor of foreign policy at Columbia University, offers a nuanced look at Russian leader Vladimir Putin's political playbook. According to Frye, Putin is not invincible; high-level inner conflicts and dicey trade-offs between policies that reward his cronies and those that benefit the public continually threaten his hold on power. Frye compares Putin to Turkey's Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Hungary's Viktor Orban, and other "personalist" autocrats who rely on vulnerable personal networks to remain in control, and draws on surveys, interviews, and research by contemporary social scientists to argue that Putin's popularity has faltered as public enthusiasm for the 2014 annexation of Crimea has waned and falling oil prices have contributed to economic stagnation. Since mass protests in 2011 over voting fraud, Russia has become increasingly repressive--a clear sign, Frye contends, that the tools Putin uses to stay in power, including cyberwarfare, media manipulation, and the funding of illiberal movements in the West, are faltering. Whether or not Putin decides to run for reelection in 2024, Frye surmises, "Russia's next few years will likely be rocky." Though readers who closely follow Russian politics will find Frye's conclusions unsurprising, his research is impressive. This timely, evidence-based account persuades. (Apr.)
Choice Review
In this interesting and timely book, Frye analyzes President Putin's powerful hand in the policy-making process, also presenting evidence that weakened institutions make his regime susceptible to a variety of challenges at home and abroad. The surge in oil prices and doubling of the size of the Russian economy between 2000 and 2014 account for his popularity during that time. While economic dilemmas subsequently had a negative effect on his support, Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea kept his public approval at a high level. Putin's tools for personalist control included willingness to target key opponents with arrests and to manipulate laws so as to hem in his political enemies. Control of information is also vital to Putin's power, as applied to internet access, websites, and television news. The author offers important insights about the use of hacking tools against former Soviet republics such as Estonia and Ukraine, and against distant rivals such as the US during the 2016 and 2020 elections. In foreign policy, Putin and his advisors have sought to establish spheres of influence but have been limited by lack of trust in Russia and resulting weakening of soft power. Frye's incorporation of public opinion surveys that he helped to formulate strengthens the research foundation of this valuable book. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates. Graduate students, faculty, and professionals. --James W. Peterson, emeritus, Valdosta State University
