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The Kaliningrad Question
The only comprehensive English-language study of Kaliningrad, this invaluable book explores the history and uncertain fate of the former East Prussia. When the USSR collapsed in 1991, Kaliningrad became a Russian exclave. As its neighbors turned to the West for investment and leadership, Kaliningrad's own source of income and stability―a massive military presence―was withdrawn. The 1998 economic crisis made the situation even more desperate, and by the end of the 1990s, Russia's westernmost oblast was deemed a 'black hole' of social and economic decay, not the future Hong Kong once imagined. Today, with the eastward enlargement of the EU and NATO, many fear that Russia may remilitarize the region and possibly deploy nuclear weapons there. The U.S. government has expressed willingness to work with the EU and Russia to address the Kaliningrad question, but Moscow has remained wary of Washington's involvement in the exclave, in part due to the failure of the United States to recognize Kaliningrad as a de jure possession of Russia. Although some analysts believe U.S.-Russian cooperation in addressing the Kaliningrad question could promote greater harmony in their relationship, most Western policymakers know little about the region. Richard Krickus, a leading expert on Kaliningrad, fills a crucial gap by tracing its long history of unstable possession, critiquing Russian and Western policy, and mapping out possible futures for the oblast. The Kaliningrad Question will be an invaluable guide to understanding the region and the potential flash points of conflict associated with it.
- GenresRussia
208 pages, Paperback
First published December 22, 2001
15 people want to read
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January 1, 2025
This was a somewhat surreal experience to read.
I should start by stating that, while in high school, I read James Charles Roy's Vanished Kingdom, about East Prussia. Since then I've always had a particular interest in this region, not least because of its anomalous existence as a Russian exclave surrounded by NATO.
Yet, this was surreal for me because given its date of publication (2002), it looks forward in prospect to what we know happens, now that we're twenty years further on.
This book is far from just a work examining Kaliningrad, though it focuses in on this region and its complicated status and politics. We learn about the corrupt governor Gorbenko, about the Baltic Fleet, about demobilisation, about how the people are dependent upon handouts from Moscow, and much else.
In the 1990s this region was hit very hard by the recession which followed Soviet collapse. The author at one point notes that GDP per capita was a measly $500. Sadly this resulted in the rise of HIV, in alcoholism, in prostitution, and all the other vices plaguing desperate forlorn people.
At the time of writing the future looked bleak for Kaliningrad, and this echoes much of what Roy said in his work (Roy begins by sharing the anecdote that the first thing he saw upon arrival in Kaliningrad was a Russian vomiting against a lightpost).
The city of Kant had fallen far indeed. The author has many suggestions about how to improve Kaliningrad, including initiatives with the EU and with the United States. He mentions that much money had already been spent in this direction, and hoped that the EU would lift Kaliningrad out of its misery.
He says it has an imperative of self-interest to do this, since Kaliningrad could provide a haven for their own criminals, as well as being a reservoir of illegal activity to spill over their borders.
The most interesting sections of the book, however, deal with Russia as a whole.
Krickus published it shortly after Yeltsin retired and Putin won his first presidency in an upset victory, exploiting his popularity in crushing Chechnya and in light of the Moscow Bombings in 1999.
The author is cautiously optimistic throughout. He notes that NATO and EU enlargement to encompass the Baltic States is even in Russia's interest. He compares their situation with Ukraine, then struggling to forge a democracy, and rhetorically asks if Russia is better off with bankrupt dictatorships as neighbours, like Lukashenko's Belarus.
Though the forays are brief, Krickus touches about the conflict between centre and periphery in post-Soviet Russia. He notes the growth of regional power, e.g. in Tatarstan. This culminated with the war in Chechyna and Dagestan, who attempted to violently secede from the Russian Federation.
This was the very beginning of Putin's rise to power, so Krickus only shortly examines his policies. Krickus is aware, though, that Putin was determined to restore the power of the centre over that of the regions. He is aware that Putin intended to restore Russia as a Great Power.
But as the future was yet to come, Krickus remains cautiously optimistic. Hoping that Putin is serious about restoring democracy in Russia, about investing in poverty-stricken regions like Kaliningrad, and about cooperation with the West.
The most tragic of all, the book ends on the note of 9/11 and Putin's generous offers of help to the US in its war on Afghanistan and the Taliban. Krickus suggests that the 'War on Terror' would drive Russia and the US closer together. Pundits like Condoleeza Rice even said that Putin's offer of friendship marked the true end of the Cold War.
As we know, this was all just a dream. Putin has gone far to restore autocracy and one-man leadership. He is still in office, twenty-two years later. His friendly meeting with President Adamkus of Lithuania, where Putin said he recognised the right of every nation to choose to join any alliance or organisation it wanted, is contrasted with the recent events in Ukraine.
Krickus stated that the Baltic States joining NATO was a red line for the Kremlin because it incorporated the former Soviet 'inner eempire,' that is, under direct Soviet control instead of being Soviet satellites.
Russia threatened war, and there was even a brief crisis over a rumour that nuclear missiles were transported to Kaliningrad, ostensibly to highlight Russia's dissatisfaction with NATO expansion to the Baltic.
But nothing happened. NATO and Russia did not go to war. Nobody seriously argued that NATO threatened Russia via Latvia.
Yet, perhaps the seeds of the Russo-Ukrainian War were sowed in these years. The West was perhaps too complacent, believed too much in Russia's military weakness. They perhaps felt that Russia would threaten but never act.
Despite the experience of the Baltic States joining the EU and NATo, which could be argued as a net positive for Russia, the Kremlin raised the same objections again over Ukraine, and this time backed its threats with force.
The post-Soviet honeymoon between the West and Russia, which leads Krickus to such hopeful analysis that Kaliningrad and Russia at large could be brought into Western institutions, could even join NATO herself, is now over. Reading this book is almost like a dream, and we might wish other directions were taken after 2002, directions that Richard Krickus would have preferred.
I should start by stating that, while in high school, I read James Charles Roy's Vanished Kingdom, about East Prussia. Since then I've always had a particular interest in this region, not least because of its anomalous existence as a Russian exclave surrounded by NATO.
Yet, this was surreal for me because given its date of publication (2002), it looks forward in prospect to what we know happens, now that we're twenty years further on.
This book is far from just a work examining Kaliningrad, though it focuses in on this region and its complicated status and politics. We learn about the corrupt governor Gorbenko, about the Baltic Fleet, about demobilisation, about how the people are dependent upon handouts from Moscow, and much else.
In the 1990s this region was hit very hard by the recession which followed Soviet collapse. The author at one point notes that GDP per capita was a measly $500. Sadly this resulted in the rise of HIV, in alcoholism, in prostitution, and all the other vices plaguing desperate forlorn people.
At the time of writing the future looked bleak for Kaliningrad, and this echoes much of what Roy said in his work (Roy begins by sharing the anecdote that the first thing he saw upon arrival in Kaliningrad was a Russian vomiting against a lightpost).
The city of Kant had fallen far indeed. The author has many suggestions about how to improve Kaliningrad, including initiatives with the EU and with the United States. He mentions that much money had already been spent in this direction, and hoped that the EU would lift Kaliningrad out of its misery.
He says it has an imperative of self-interest to do this, since Kaliningrad could provide a haven for their own criminals, as well as being a reservoir of illegal activity to spill over their borders.
The most interesting sections of the book, however, deal with Russia as a whole.
Krickus published it shortly after Yeltsin retired and Putin won his first presidency in an upset victory, exploiting his popularity in crushing Chechnya and in light of the Moscow Bombings in 1999.
The author is cautiously optimistic throughout. He notes that NATO and EU enlargement to encompass the Baltic States is even in Russia's interest. He compares their situation with Ukraine, then struggling to forge a democracy, and rhetorically asks if Russia is better off with bankrupt dictatorships as neighbours, like Lukashenko's Belarus.
Though the forays are brief, Krickus touches about the conflict between centre and periphery in post-Soviet Russia. He notes the growth of regional power, e.g. in Tatarstan. This culminated with the war in Chechyna and Dagestan, who attempted to violently secede from the Russian Federation.
This was the very beginning of Putin's rise to power, so Krickus only shortly examines his policies. Krickus is aware, though, that Putin was determined to restore the power of the centre over that of the regions. He is aware that Putin intended to restore Russia as a Great Power.
But as the future was yet to come, Krickus remains cautiously optimistic. Hoping that Putin is serious about restoring democracy in Russia, about investing in poverty-stricken regions like Kaliningrad, and about cooperation with the West.
The most tragic of all, the book ends on the note of 9/11 and Putin's generous offers of help to the US in its war on Afghanistan and the Taliban. Krickus suggests that the 'War on Terror' would drive Russia and the US closer together. Pundits like Condoleeza Rice even said that Putin's offer of friendship marked the true end of the Cold War.
As we know, this was all just a dream. Putin has gone far to restore autocracy and one-man leadership. He is still in office, twenty-two years later. His friendly meeting with President Adamkus of Lithuania, where Putin said he recognised the right of every nation to choose to join any alliance or organisation it wanted, is contrasted with the recent events in Ukraine.
Krickus stated that the Baltic States joining NATO was a red line for the Kremlin because it incorporated the former Soviet 'inner eempire,' that is, under direct Soviet control instead of being Soviet satellites.
Russia threatened war, and there was even a brief crisis over a rumour that nuclear missiles were transported to Kaliningrad, ostensibly to highlight Russia's dissatisfaction with NATO expansion to the Baltic.
But nothing happened. NATO and Russia did not go to war. Nobody seriously argued that NATO threatened Russia via Latvia.
Yet, perhaps the seeds of the Russo-Ukrainian War were sowed in these years. The West was perhaps too complacent, believed too much in Russia's military weakness. They perhaps felt that Russia would threaten but never act.
Despite the experience of the Baltic States joining the EU and NATo, which could be argued as a net positive for Russia, the Kremlin raised the same objections again over Ukraine, and this time backed its threats with force.
The post-Soviet honeymoon between the West and Russia, which leads Krickus to such hopeful analysis that Kaliningrad and Russia at large could be brought into Western institutions, could even join NATO herself, is now over. Reading this book is almost like a dream, and we might wish other directions were taken after 2002, directions that Richard Krickus would have preferred.
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