{"product_id":"9798216391791","title":"Random Dictatorships Unpredictability of Authoritarian Politics in Eurasia","description":"\u003ch1\u003eRandom Dictatorships\u003c\/h1\u003e\u003ch2\u003eUnpredictability of Authoritarian Politics in Eurasia\u003c\/h2\u003e\u003ch3\u003eAlexander Libman\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cb\u003ePolitical Science \/ International Relations \/ General\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cdiv\u003ePost-Soviet Eurasia continues to puzzle observers, defying expectations of experts. Most Russia watchers failed to predict the full-scale invasion against Ukraine in 2022, and this failure triggered intensive debates and multiple rounds of self-reflection. \u003ci\u003eRandom Dictatorships: Unpredictability of Authoritarian Politics in Eurasia \u003c\/i\u003eargues that the supposedly unexpected turns of Eurasian politics are a manifestation of a deeper phenomenon – researchers' limited ability to predict the policymaking in authoritarian regimes in general. Alexander Libman identifies three main factors making authoritarian politics difficult to predict: mistakes of authoritarian leaders, untransparent competition of elite factions, and omnipresent secrecy cultivated by autocrats. While scholars oscillate between two visions of authoritarian regimes – their presentation as highly rational and capable to adapt and as highly inefficient and doomed to poor performance – Libman suggests that many autocracies alternate between these two extremes in a difficult-to-predict fashion. The book explores three important cases from the post-Soviet Eurasia, when autocracies of this region defied expectations of external observers – Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014, the Bloody January in Kazakhstan in 2022 and Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022. It discusses the reasons for the apparent unpredictability of autocracies in each of these cases, and identifies implications for how authoritarian regimes should be studied.\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003eAlexander Libman is professor of Russian and East European politics at the Freie Universität Berlin. Prior to that, he worked as professor of social sciences and East European studies at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich. His research interests focus on comparative authoritarian development in the post-Soviet Eurasia. His work appeared, among others, in the \u003ci\u003eAmerican Political Science Review, World Politics, British Journal of Political Science, Comparative Political Studies \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003ePerspectives on Politics.\u003c\/i\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ctable\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003ePublication Date: \u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e19 August 2027\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003ePublisher: \u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eBloomsbury Academic\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eImprint: \u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eBloomsbury Academic\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eISBN-13: \u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e9798216391791\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eFormat: \u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003ePaperback softback\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003ePage Count: \u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e224\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eWeight (oz): \u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e16.0\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003c\/table\u003e","brand":"Bloomsbury Academic","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":55552935100556,"sku":"9798216391791","price":35.96,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0710\/9545\/1788\/files\/getimage_505b9ec2-e9c0-4a54-8703-76577b3f1b0b.jpg?v=1788313668","url":"https:\/\/lateknightbooks.com\/products\/9798216391791","provider":"Late Knight Books and Services, LLC","version":"1.0","type":"link"}