The Kremlin Playbook-Understanding Russian Influence in Central and Eastern Europe

by Heather A. Conley

Russia has cultivated an opaque web of economic and political patronage across the Central and Eastern European region that the Kremlin uses to influence and direct decisionmaking. This report from the CSIS Europe Program, in partnership with the Bulgarian Center for the Study of Democracy, is the result of a 16-month study on the nature of Russian influence in five case Hungary, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Latvia, and Serbia.

Genres: Politics, Russia

Unknown Binding

About the author

Heather A. Conley is senior vice president for Europe, Eurasia, and the Arctic and director of the Europe Program at CSIS. Prior to joining CSIS as a senior fellow and director for Europe in 2009, Conley served four years as executive director of the Office of the Chairman of the Board at the American National Red Cross. From 2001 to 2005, she was deputy assistant secretary of state in the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs with responsibilities for U.S. bilateral relations with the countries of Northern and Central Europe. From 1994 to 2001, she was a senior associate with an international consulting firm led by former U.S. deputy secretary of state Richard L. Armitage. Ms. Conley began her career in the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs at the U.S. Department of State. She was selected to serve as special assistant to the coordinator of U.S. assistance to the newly independent states of the former Soviet Union, and she has received two State Department Meritorious Honor Awards. Ms. Conley is frequently featured as a foreign policy analyst and Europe expert on CNN, MSNBC, BBC, NPR, and PBS, among other prominent media outlets. She received her B.A. in international studies from West Virginia Wesleyan College and her M.A. in international relations from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS).

Reviews

[Laura MA · Rating 4 out of 5]

A pesar de las limitaciones y el sesgo que contiene (“malign Russian influence”) , es bastante informativo.
El tema central es el retroceso en las democracias de algunos países de Europa del Este a partir de 2008, vinculándolo al aprovechamiento de Rusia de la crisis financiera (aumento de las inversiones directas, dependencia de sectores estratégicos, relación con oligarcas locales, etc.). Como punto a su favor, el informe al menos destaca la complicidad de Occidente.
Particularmente interesantes los casos de estudio de Latvia, Bulgaria y Serbia.

[Alex Harris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exceptionally well-researched elucidation of an issue that, for me at least, was always sort of "known about" but rarely explained in such careful and original detail. The corruption of Eastern and Central European countries by malign and Russian influence both at the political and economic level - going up to the level of "state capture" as defined by the report - should concern everyone.