Author

Vladislav Zubok

Vladislav Zubok is Professor of History at the London School of Economics and author of Collapse: The Fall of the Soviet Union, Yale University Press, 2021.

Articles by Vladislav Zubok

Vladimir Putin addresses the delegates at the Munich Security Conference in 2007.
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Europe’s reckoning with history

The United States no longer sees Europe’s security as an issue of vital international importance. If European leaders fail to develop a prudent and practical grand strategy, the co..

Vladislav ZubokFebruary 18, 2025
Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev and members of his Politburo with Polish premier Wojciech Jaruzelski.
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The gerontology of power

From the 1970s onwards, the Soviet Union and Russia were debilitated by old, feeble and inept leaders. American risks following the same path...

Vladislav ZubokJuly 16, 2024
Bill Clinton and Boris Yeltsin at a summit in Canada, 1993.
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Russia, America and the roads not taken

After the Cold War, the United States squandered an opportunity to integrate Russia into Western economic and security partnerships. They continue to pay the price...

Vladislav ZubokFebruary 20, 2024
Face masks depicting Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, and Yevgeny Prigozhin are displayed for sale at a souvenir shop in St. Petersburg.
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Epitaph on a mafioso’s grave

Prigozhin thought that his ‘hard drive’ of Putin’s murky network of contacts, conspiracies and deals might save him, following his mutiny. He was wrong. But his murder means Putin ..

Vladislav ZubokAugust 25, 2023
Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev shakes hands with Russian President Boris Yeltsin in the Russian Parliament after failed coup attempt against Gorbachev in August, 1991. Credit: REUTERS / Alamy Stock Photo.
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The swift death of Gorbachev’s USSR set Russia on a path to chaos

Over a two year period, the Soviet leader's authority was slowly sliced away until his only choice was to resign with dignity in 1991. While the West may have thought this bloodles..

Vladislav ZubokSeptember 28, 2022
Depiction of a web conference between Helmut Kohl, Bill Clinton and Boris Yeltsin.
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Myths and realities of Putinism and NATO expansion

The lack of transparency over NATO expansion can be linked to the Russian leader’s mythologising over his country’s epic struggle. ..

Vladislav ZubokMay 6, 2022
Attempted coup 1991 Moscow
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Russian history rhymes — from Soviet collapse to Putin’s folly

The Soviet collapse pointed to the possibility of great reversals and historic surprises. In invading Ukraine Putin may have sealed the demise of his political enterprise...

Vladislav ZubokMarch 11, 2022