A prescient analysis of the decline of the liberal order and the rise of nationalism in Eastern Europe. A must read for all scholars or international affairs enthusiasts at a time when nationalism and populism rapidly spread throughout both Eastern and Western Europe as well as North America and many other regions of the world.

Andrei V. Korobkov, Middle Tennessee State University

Davis and Slobodchikoff analyze how the West and Russia globally promote their culture and ideas and how smaller Eastern European nations become dependent on outsiders at the expense of their own traditions. The authors argue the mutually reactive and zero-sum nature of the Russia-Western competition in which soft power becomes a hostage of the larger geopolitical struggle. A very troubling state of affairs.

Andrei P. Tsygankov, San Francisco State University

In this ground-breaking book, Slobodchikoff and Davis examine the contending power strategies and contrasting hegemonic practices of Russia and the West. Firmly grounded in the theoretical literature, the authors provide rich empirical analysis of soft power and cultural conflicts drawing on the examples of Poland and Serbia. This hard-hitting and original study is essential reading for all those interested in the shifting balance of power in the international system today.

Richard Sakwa, Professor of Russian and European Politics, University of Kent