iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Sergey Radchenko @radchenko.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

I’ve written a review of Vladislav Zubok’s new book, The World of the Cold War: 1945-1991, which will (eventually) appear in a few months in the Journal of Cold War Studies. In the meantime, I thought I’d put it here. Enjoy! And read the book! profradchenko.substack.com/p/the-world-...

profradchenko.substack.com

The World of the Cold War: 1945-1991

My review of Vladislav Zubok’s new book

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Sergey Radchenko @radchenko.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

Just finished the copy-edits for my new book about Russia's energy empire (Power Play). Reads well. I think you'll all enjoy it. Here's the place-holder: www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/serge....

hachettebookgroup.com

Power Play

The incendiary history of Russia’s fossil fuel empire, revealing how energy has been the Kremlin’s most critical lifeline and most potent weaponThe Kreml...

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Reposted by Sergey Radchenko

The English Historical Review @enghistrev.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

To Run the World: The Kremlin’s Cold War Bid for Global Power, by Sergey Radchenko @radchenko.bsky.social @universitypress.cambridge.org Politics of Uncertainty: The United States, the Baltic Question, and the Collapse of the Soviet Union, by Una Bergmane @unabergmane.bsky.social @academic.oup.com

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Sergey Radchenko @radchenko.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

Thrilled to say that the great Archie Brown has written a 29(!)-page review of To Run the World, and Una Bergmane's excellent book, Politics of Uncertainty, for The English Historical Review. Read it here: watermark02.silverchair.com/ceaf192.pdf?....

watermark02.silverchair.com

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Reposted by Sergey Radchenko

Foreign Affairs @foreignaffairs.com · 15/07/2026

“China’s rise has not happened outside the systems its rivals built, but through Beijing’s skillful exploitation of them,” write Enrico Fardella and @radchenko.bsky.social. China’s continued success therefore “depends on the U.S.-led order.”

foreignaffairs.com

China Is Sabotaging the World That Enables Its Rise

Beijing’s risky bet against the West.

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Sergey Radchenko @radchenko.bsky.social · 16/06/2026

A controversial view, I know, but on any given day, I will take a meaningless deal that ends a war over a meaningless war that never ends.

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Sergey Radchenko @radchenko.bsky.social · 05/06/2026

Had a fun discussion with @marceldirsus.com about my next book, Power Play, which will soon be published by PublicAffairs.

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Sergey Radchenko @radchenko.bsky.social · 25/05/2026

So, if anyone missed out on my article in the Guardian about me renouncing my Russian citizenship, here is the audio version, which I read myself (at the Guardian!): www.theguardian.com/news/audio/2.... I've never done this genre. Let me know what you think!

theguardian.com

‘I had poked the bear right in the eye’: my fight to renounce my Russian citizenship – podcast

When Putin invaded Ukraine, he raised murder to the level of national policy. I felt guilt by association. And I had to actWritten and read by Sergey Radchenko

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Sergey Radchenko @radchenko.bsky.social · 20/05/2026

So the biggest take-away from the Putin-Xi summit is that *despite* the crazy situation in the Strait of Hormuz, China is still refusing to back Power of Siberia 2. Despite Putin trying very hard before the visit to hint that a breakthrough was in the offing. Wow.

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Reposted by Sergey Radchenko

La Repubblica @mm-repubblica-bot.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

Sergej Radchenko: “Putin non ha cambiato idea, vuole la capitolazione di Kiev” www.repubblica.it/esteri/2026/05/12…

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Reposted by Sergey Radchenko

University of Illinois Press @illinoispress.bsky.social · 01/05/2026

🚫 Journal of Olympic Studies Vol. 7, No. 1, is a special issue: "Boycotting Montreal, Moscow, and Los Angeles: The Olympics After Détente," guest edited by Christopher Young and Robert Edelman. Featuring work by @radchenko.bsky.social and more. scholarlypublishingcollective.org/uip/jos/issu...

Cover of Journal of Olympic Studies, Volume 7, Number 1, 2026
Published for the Center for Sociocultural Sport and Olympic Research
White background with five semicircles resembling the Olympic rings

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Sergey Radchenko @radchenko.bsky.social · 29/04/2026

I have a piece at Le Grand Continent, where I preview the subject of my new book, which is about how Russia has used oil and gas as weapons of foreign policy. As you'd expect, this is not something Putin has come up with. The practice has deep roots going back to the 1950s.

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Sergey Radchenko @radchenko.bsky.social · 27/04/2026

So, shockingly, I have an article in the Journal of Olympic Studies. scholarlypublishingcollective.org/uip/jos/arti.... It's co-authored with Mikhail Prozumenshchikov of the Russian archives, and it tells the (quite curious) story of the boycott of the 1980 Moscow Olympics.

scholarlypublishingcollective.org

Boycott of the 1980 Moscow Olympics: The Soviet Perspective

Abstract. Drawing on newly available Soviet archival materials, including hitherto unseen KGB reports, this article delves into the Soviet perspective on the 1980 Moscow Olympics. Soviet leaders expec...

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Sergey Radchenko @radchenko.bsky.social · 27/04/2026

Folks, in the context of the ongoing Russia-Ukraine project, I need to get connected to Prime Minister Pashinyan's office. If anyone has leads/contacts, could you DM me? Many thanks!

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Sergey Radchenko @radchenko.bsky.social · 12/04/2026

Over the last few days I received quite an overwhelming number of e-mails in relation to this piece: www.theguardian.com/world/2026/a.... I'll try to answer them all, albeit gradually. The piece is superficially about Russia. But I think it's fundamentally about understanding one's own identity.

theguardian.com

‘I had poked the bear right in the eye’: my fight to renounce my Russian citizenship

The long read: When Putin invaded Ukraine, he raised murder to the level of national policy. I felt guilt by association. And I had to act

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Sergey Radchenko @radchenko.bsky.social · 10/04/2026

Thank, Jim. Truly humbled by all the attention this piece has been getting. It does speak to dilemmas people face: this is certainly not just my story.

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Sergey Radchenko @radchenko.bsky.social · 09/04/2026

I have a long piece in the Guardian about... well, myself. As a writer and a historian, I generally tell other people's stories. So, this story was difficult to write. It took me about six months. It's about my understanding of my own identity: who, or what am I, really?

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Reposted by Sergey Radchenko

Casey Michel @cjcmichel.bsky.social · 03/04/2026

"For all of Putin’s huffing and puffing, Russia is really no more than a regional power, just as U.S. President Barack Obama once averred." bsky.app/profile/radc...

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Sergey Radchenko @radchenko.bsky.social · 30/03/2026

We tend to assume that Trump's war against Iran is helping Putin, but this is only true if the war becomes a quagmire. That's a big if. My latest for Foreign Policy: foreignpolicy.com/2026/03/30/t....

foreignpolicy.com

Putin’s Persian Problem

Don’t overthink it. The Iran war is bad for Russia.

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Reposted by Sergey Radchenko

Engelsberg Ideas @engelsbergideas.bsky.social · 09/03/2026

Behind Washington’s failure to predict the Iranian Revolution of 1979 lay a long history of hubris, strategic miscalculations and delusional thinking. How the United States lost Iran | @radchenko.bsky.social engelsbergideas.com/reviews/how-...

engelsbergideas.com

How the United States lost Iran

Behind Washington’s failure to predict the Iranian Revolution of 1979 lay a long history of hubris, strategic miscalculations and delusional thinking.

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Sergey Radchenko @radchenko.bsky.social · 15/03/2026

For UK audiences. *To Run the World* is now available in paperback (as of last week), and can be purchased here: www.amazon.co.uk/Run-World-Kr.... Priced at £14.99, so never cheaper! Your leisurely beach reaching as the summer arrives.

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Sergey Radchenko @radchenko.bsky.social · 09/03/2026

My review of Scott Anderson's superb book.

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Sergey Radchenko @radchenko.bsky.social · 07/03/2026

American-led upheaval. Do we need a new term? Some thoughts. open.substack.com/pub/profradc...

open.substack.com

American-led upheaval.

Is there still an axis or do we need a new framing?

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Sergey Radchenko @radchenko.bsky.social · 04/03/2026

Iran in the Cold War. A useful background read from To Run the World. open.substack.com/pub/profradc...

open.substack.com

Iran in the Cold War

A useful background read.

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Sergey Radchenko @radchenko.bsky.social · 03/03/2026

"Killing the chicken to scare the monkey: How Moscow and Beijing have reacted to the U.S. and Israeli strikes against the Middle East." My thoughts. open.substack.com/pub/profradc...

open.substack.com

Killing the chicken to scare the monkey

How Moscow and Beijing have reacted to the U.S. and Israeli strikes against the Middle East

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Sergey Radchenko @radchenko.bsky.social · 21/02/2026

Some thoughts on Shaun Walker's brilliant piece in the Guardian: open.substack.com/pub/profradc.... And here's the piece itself: www.theguardian.com/world/ng-int....

open.substack.com

Russia's invasion of Ukraine: new evidence

Some highlights from Shaun Walker's amazing piece, with a few comments

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Sergey Radchenko @radchenko.bsky.social · 19/02/2026

Engelsberg Ideas just published my piece on Putin’s views vis-a-vis Trump’s claims to Greenland. It’s mainly a historical piece, where I try to understand how ideas about “spheres of influence” have evolved in the Kremlin’s thinking over the years.

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Sergey Radchenko @radchenko.bsky.social · 17/02/2026

Reading Kofman. Some thoughts on Michael Kofman's great piece in Foreign Affairs. open.substack.com/pub/profradc...

open.substack.com

Reading Kofman

Mike's latest piece on the Russia-Ukraine war, and my comments

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Sergey Radchenko @radchenko.bsky.social · 16/02/2026

Writing a history of the Russia-Ukraine war. I talk about Boris Johnson's visits to Ukraine in 2022, and what I was and was not able to obtain through FOIA requests: open.substack.com/pub/profradc...

open.substack.com

Writing a history of the Russia-Ukraine war

New Boris Johnson releases

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Reposted by Sergey Radchenko

New Eurasian Strategies Centre (NEST Centre) @nestcentre.bsky.social · 11/02/2026

Sergey Radchenko (@radchenko.bsky.social), Distinguished Professor at Johns Hopkins SAIS, joins Katia Glod, NEST Centre’s Deputy Head of Foreign Policy, to assess the trajectory of the talks, Moscow’s calculus, and the prospects for either a negotiated outcome or an extended war.

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Reposted by Sergey Radchenko

The Kennan Institute @kennaninstitute.bsky.social · 04/02/2026

⚪ Origins of the War A conversation with @radchenko.bsky.social 📅 February 11 🕙 10:00 AM ET RSVP Now ⬇️ zoom.us/webinar/regi...

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Sergey Radchenko @radchenko.bsky.social · 16/01/2026

Damn. I got a medal from the Council on Foreign Relations, which is super exciting.

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Sergey Radchenko @radchenko.bsky.social · 28/12/2025

spectator.com/article/what.... I have a piece out where I assess where we are with Trump, Putin, and Zelensky, almost a year on. It’s not a very hopeful piece.

spectator.com

The Ukraine war pessimists were proven right this year

As the Russian-Ukrainian full-scale war nears its fourth anniversary, Vladimir Putin looks confident, even cocky.

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Reposted by Sergey Radchenko

Foreign Affairs @foreignaffairs.com · 26/12/2025

U.S. President Donald Trump “should not be in a rush to force a bad deal” in Ukraine, argues @radchenko.bsky.social. Instead, Washington should “exercise patience and remain on the side of the Ukrainians and their European supporters.”

fam.ag

America’s Magical Thinking About Ukraine

A bad deal is worse than no deal.

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Sergey Radchenko @radchenko.bsky.social · 25/12/2025

Damn. People, somehow I finished a new book. It reads well too. So relieved. It's always good to finish stuff. Stay tuned.

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Reposted by Sergey Radchenko

Filipe Campante @filipecampante.bsky.social · 23/12/2025

Really perceptive piece, by two of my brilliant @jhu.edu colleagues, @himself.bsky.social and @radchenko.bsky.social.

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Reposted by Sergey Radchenko

Jim Goldgeier @jimgoldgeier.bsky.social · 23/12/2025

Terrific piece by @himself.bsky.social @radchenko.bsky.social - another example of how 35 years after we hoped Russia would become more like us, Trump wants US to become more like Russia.

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Sergey Radchenko @radchenko.bsky.social · 12/12/2025

Is Russia a threat? A few thoughts on Trump's NSS (where I serve a devil's advocate to myself and try to test my assumptions). open.substack.com/pub/profradc...

open.substack.com

Is Russia a threat?

Revisiting Trump's NSS

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Reposted by Sergey Radchenko

Foreign Affairs @foreignaffairs.com · 04/12/2025

If the alternative to a bloody, grinding war is “the peace of surrender to Putin’s Russia, then that peace can wait,” writes @radchenko.bsky.social.

foreignaffairs.com

America’s Magical Thinking About Ukraine

A bad deal is worse than no deal.

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