After a period of relative weakness and isolation during most of the 1990s, Russia is again appearing as a major security player in world politics, a shift that will have profound effects for regional and global stability and power relations.
This book provides a comprehensive assessment of Russia's current security situation, addressing such topics as the type of player the new Russia will be in the field of security, the essence of Russian security policy, the sources, capabilities and priorities of the countries security policy, and its prospects for the future. One important conclusion to emerge is that, while Russian foreign policy under Vladimir Putin has become more pragmatic and responsive to both problems and opportunities, the growing lack of checks and balances in domestic politics makes political integration with the West very difficult and gives the president very great freedom in applying Russia's growing power abroad. This book analyzes both external and internal dimensions of security, along with so-called hard and soft security issues and intricate interplay between them.
This book will appeal to Russian and Eastern European scholars and academics looking for the most up-to-date and erudite analysis of Russia's current security situation.

This book focuses on foreign policy decision-making from the viewpoint of psychology. Psychology is always present in human decision-making, constituted by its structural determinants but also playing its own agency-level constitutive and causal roles, and therefore it should be taken into account in any analysis of foreign policy decisions. The book analyses a wide variety of prominent psychological approaches, such as bounded rationality, prospect theory, belief systems, cognitive biases, emotions, personality theories and trust to the study of foreign policy, identifying their achievements and added value as well as their limitations from a comparative perspective. Understanding how leaders in world politics act requires us to consider recent advances in neuroscience, psychology and behavioral economics. As a whole, the book aims at better integrating various psychological theories into the study of international relations and foreign policy analysis, as partial explanations themselves but also as facets of more comprehensive theories. It also discusses practical lessons that the psychological approaches offer since ignoring psychology can be costly: decision-makers need to be able reflect on their own decision-making process as well as the perspectives of the others. Paying attention to the psychological factors in international relations is necessary for better understanding the microfoundations upon which such agency is based.

The Crisis Management Cycle is the first holistic, multidisciplinary introduction to the dynamic field of crisis management theory and practice. By drawing together the different theories and concepts of crisis management literature and practice, this book develops a theoretical framework of analysis that can be used by both students and practitioners alike. Each stage of the crisis cycle is explored in turn: Risk assessment Prevention Preparedness Response Recovery Learning Stretching across disciplines as diverse as safety studies, business studies, security studies, political science and behavioural science, The Crisis Management Cycle provides a robust grounding in crisis management that will be invaluable to both students and practitioners worldwide.

The Crisis Management Cycle is the first holistic, multidisciplinary introduction to the dynamic field of crisis management theory and practice. By drawing together the different theories and concepts of crisis management literature and practice, this book develops a theoretical framework of analysis that can be used by both students and practitioners alike. Each stage of the crisis cycle is explored in turn: Risk assessment Prevention Preparedness Response Recovery Learning Stretching across disciplines as diverse as safety studies, business studies, security studies, political science and behavioural science, The Crisis Management Cycle provides a robust grounding in crisis management that will be invaluable to both students and practitioners worldwide.

An original and challenging examination of how to transform post-Sovietological study of Soviet and Russian foreign policy into a more integrated part of the Social Sciences and International Relations Theory. This book represents the first detailed and sustained synthesis international relations theory and Soviet/Russian foreign and security policy in academic literature.

After a period of relative weakness and isolation during most of the 1990s, Russia is again appearing as a major security player in world politics. This book provides a comprehensive assessment of Russia's current security situation, addressing such questions as: What kind of player is Russia in the field of security? What is the essence of its security policy? What are the sources, capabilities and priorities of its security policy? What are the prospects for the future? One important conclusion to emerge is that, while Russian foreign policy under Putin has become more pragmatic and responsive to both problems and opportunities, the growing lack of checks and balances in domestic politics makes political integration with the West difficult and gives the president great freedom in applying Russia's growing power abroad.

An original and challenging examination of how to transform post-Sovietological study of Soviet and Russian foreign policy into a more integrated part of the Social Sciences and International Relations Theory. This book represents the first detailed and sustained synthesis international relations theory and Soviet/Russian foreign and security policy in academic literature.

This book focuses on foreign policy decision-making from the viewpoint of psychology. Psychology is always present in human decision-making, constituted by its structural determinants but also playing its own agency-level constitutive and causal roles, and therefore it should be taken into account in any analysis of foreign policy decisions. The book analyses a wide variety of prominent psychological approaches, such as bounded rationality, prospect theory, belief systems, cognitive biases, emotions, personality theories and trust to the study of foreign policy, identifying their achievements and added value as well as their limitations from a comparative perspective. Understanding how leaders in world politics act requires us to consider recent advances in neuroscience, psychology and behavioral economics. As a whole, the book aims at better integrating various psychological theories into the study of international relations and foreign policy analysis, as partial explanations themselves but also as facets of more comprehensive theories. It also discusses practical lessons that the psychological approaches offer since ignoring psychology can be costly: decision-makers need to be able reflect on their own decision-making process as well as the perspectives of the others. Paying attention to the psychological factors in international relations is necessary for better understanding the microfoundations upon which such agency is based.