Includes bibliographical references (p. 391-490) and index.

The captain -- The natural -- Unreasonable doubt -- The understudy -- The unraveling -- The transformation -- The logic of politics -- The mountains -- Falling apart -- The Russia that has returned.

Drawing on two decades of research, Treisman analyzes the paradoxes in Russian politics and society, illuminating why the disintegration of the U.S.S.R. wasn't more violent, the repercussions of the Chechen wars, the "sacred place" vodka holds in the Russian imagination (and its pernicious effect on Russia's demographics), and how, 20 years after the fall of communism, relations between Russia and the U.S. remain so frosty. Yet as Treisman convincingly argues, most of the world's international problems--nuclear proliferation, Islamic terrorism, global warming--will be difficult to solve without Russia's help.