Russia has long considered the so-called 'Near Abroad' of post-Soviet states to be its sphere of influence. But does it really have the will to assert hegemony? I'd suggest that it does not, in a whistle-stop tour from Belarus to Central Asia.

In the second part, I look at some books that are new, or new to me, and think are worth highlighting:

• Tom Burgis, Kleptopia (William Collins, 2020)
• Gordon Corera, Spies Among Us (William Collins, 2020)
• Martyn Whittock, The Secret History of Soviet Russia's Police State (Robinson, 2020)
• James Pearce, The Use of History in Putin's Russia (Vernon Press, 2021*)
• Donald Ostrowski & Marshall Poe (eds), Portraits of Old Russia (ME Sharpe, 2011)

* No, not a typo. Don't ask me, but trust me, I have no time machine)

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