A difficult neighbourhood

John Besemeres's latest book is not one to read in a rush. There are those who will find the arguments outlined in his introduction, written in the first quarter of 2016, unpalatable, as they expose the West's continuing reluctance to face up to the ‘blindingly obvious’ challenge from Moscow. There are others who will suppose, in addition, that because the author has immersed himself in Polish as well as Russian history, he has succumbed to the prejudices of the former. Such preconception will not survive the reading of the various essays in A difficult neighbourhood, written over the past half a dozen years, which deserve careful and patient consideration. What the reader will discover instead is the way that the author's thinking has evolved over recent years, with his outlook for Russia, initially guardedly hopeful, darkening. Putin's return to the Kremlin in May 2012 and Moscow's persistent and forceful efforts to compel Ukraine to obey its will, have been important markers in this regress towards ‘yet another retrograde and reactionary version of Russian imperial domination’ (p. 27)

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