No Place for Russia: European Security Institutions Since 1989

Woodrow Wilson Center Series

by William H. Hill

The optimistic vision of a “Europe whole and free” after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 has given way to disillusionment, bitterness, and renewed hostility between Russia and the West. In No Place for Russia, William H. Hill traces the development of the post–Cold War European security order to explain today’s tensions, showing how attempts to integrate Russia into a unified Euro-Atlantic security order were gradually overshadowed by the domination of NATO and the EU—at Russia’s expense.Hill argues that the redivision of Europe has been largely unintended and not the result of any single decision or action. Instead, the current situation is the cumulative result of many decisions—reasonably made at the time—that gradually produced the current security architecture and led to mutual mistrust. Hill analyzes the United States’ decision to remain in Europe after the Cold War, the emergence of Germany as a major power on the continent, and the transformation of Russia into a nation-state, placing major weight on NATO’s evolution from an alliance dedicated primarily to static collective territorial defense into a security organization with global ambitions and capabilities. Closing with Russia’s annexation of Crimea and war in eastern Ukraine, No Place for Russia argues that the post–Cold War security order in Europe has been irrevocably shattered, to be replaced by a new and as-yet-undefined order.

Genres: Russia, Politics

536 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 14, 2018

Reviews

[Mihai Pop · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very well articulated, but no eye-opening topics, so I would rate it - as expected. There is a nice opening to the events that led to having the Eastern Europe ex-Warsaw Pact countries which once joining the Western bloc led to a more abrupt treatment of Russia. Surely, one needs to de-romanticize Russia, but still the enmity the politics of Poland, Baltics and Romania did not help an adolescent mannered Russia.

[Patrick Kornegay, Jr. · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great book by a foreign policy expert and provides good context for understanding the post-Cold War Europe before the full-scale invasion by Russia in 2022. Helps to provide insight for the expansion of NATO and EU and the enmity that Russia felt and continues to feel in how it perceives itself in relation to these institutions.

[Nikita Nikishin · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good summary, but dated by the unexpected series of global events during and after the Covid-19 pandemic and the escalation of the war in Ukraine into a direct conflict.

This books post-Cold War order began to die in 2021, and the re-election of Donald Trump is a final nail in its coffin.