Publishers Weekly
01/29/2024
In this arresting deep dive, historian Kimmage (The Conservative Turn) explores decades of international relations leading up to Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Delineating a tangle of political inactions and missteps by the U.S. and Europe that in his view led to the deadly conflict, Kimmage first contends that Western ambivalence over Vladimir Putin’s earlier aggressions—including his 2008 invasion of Georgia, when he ousted its pro-Western leader, and his backing of Syria’s Bashar al-Assad in that country’s civil war—served to goad rather than becalm the Russian leader. Then, in 2014, after Russia first invaded Ukraine, Kimmage argues that the West “overpromised and underdelivered,” sending mixed messages of support to Kyiv that riled both sides. Kimmage does an admirable job explaining Russia’s justifications for its actions; he somewhat overreaches, however, when arguing the conflict was most directly ignited by Western action—namely President Donald Trump’s promise of “lethal military assistance” to Ukraine, which Kimmage claims dashed any chance that Russia could back down. Also difficult to square is the suggestion that the West should have instead taken Putin’s national security concerns seriously, which runs counter to Kimmage’s description of those concerns as the “marginal” whims of an “eccentric” dictator. By and large, however, the commentary is elucidating and the fine-grained narrative keeps the pages turning. This deserves to be reckoned with. (Mar.)
From the Publisher
"[Kimmage] provides well-informed and realistic, if bleak, context for current events...Political maneuvering rarely begets a page-turner, but Kimmageâs insightful account is just that." — Starred Review in Kirkus Reviews
"[Kimmage's] excellent book contains qualities seldom present in narrating an ongoing conflict... A compelling and detailed account that reveals some little known facts and a deeply sobering analysis of Putin's invasion of Ukraine, its consequences for Russia, and the many assumptions about European security." — Zachary Irwin, Library Journal"The war in Ukraine is now in its third year and policymakers in Washington and around the world are asking, 'How does the war end?' With his timely and incisive new book, Collisions, Michael Kimmage has offered an important predicate question: 'Why did the war begin?' Clearly written and carefully documented, Kimmage explores the origins of Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine in the context of their past relations with each other, as well as those with Europe and the United States." — David McKean, Former U.S. Ambassador to Luxembourg and former Director of Policy Planning at the U.S. Department of State, and author of Watching Darkness Fall: FDR, His Ambassadors, and the Rise of Adolf Hitler"Drawing on his experiences in both the academic and diplomatic worlds, Michael Kimmage has produced a beautifully written analysis of the Russian invasion of Ukraine-and of the geopolitical false assumptions that it utterly shattered. Highly recommended for both specialists and the general reader." — M.E. Sarotte, Author of Not One Inch: America, Russia, and the Making of Post-Cold War Stalemate"In his wide-ranging account of the three post-Cold War decades, Michael Kimmage places the outbreak of Russia's war against Ukraine in the context of a series of collisions-between Moscow and Kyiv, between the United States and Russia, and between Russian and Europe. These collisions, he argues, were not inevitable, but ultimately acquired a logic of their own, culminating in Putin's decision to go to war. Essential reading for those seeking to understand what went wrong after the collapse of the USSR." — Angela Stent, Author of Putin's World: Russia Against the West and with the Rest"Michael Kimmage's Collisions is a compelling account of the causes and consequences of the brutal and devastating war by Russia against Ukraine-the largest armed conflict in Europe since the end of World War II. A historian by training with key service at the State Department during the Obama administration, Kimmage brings his talent and experience to bear in illuminating the complex background for a war that is having an extraordinary impact not only in Europe but around the world. It is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand the aggressive war that Vladimir Putin launched against Ukraine and the West." — John J. Sullivan, former U.S. Ambassador to the Russian Federation and former U.S. Deputy Secretary of State"The Russian invasion of Ukraine was neither the start nor the end of a long series of wars. This book explains the origins of this bloody tragedy, its meanings, and its likely consequences. Michael Kimmage is one of the very best historians of the subject; his analysis is urgent and necessary for anyone who hopes to understand these world-changing events." — Jeremi Suri, Author of Civil War by Other Means: America's Long and Unfinished Fight for Democracy"Michael Kimmage modestly caveats this work saying he's not an expert on Ukraine, but Russia's terrors require us all to become knowledgeable, and this book is a terrifically useful invitation into deeply understanding the international politics of Ukraine's struggle for independence from a malign Russian sphere of influence." — Kori Schake, Senior Fellow and Director of Foreign and Defense Policy Studies, American Enterprise Institute"Mr. Kimmage, whose narrative prose is a delight to read, persuasively argues that Mr. Putin in Munich demanded Russian autonomy rather than a wholesale restructuring of the "rules-based order." ... Collisions is an impressive work of concision." — Martin Di Caro, Washington Times"An astute book, cleanly written." — Richard Lofthouse
Library Journal
01/01/2024
Kimmage (history, Catholic Univ. of America; The Abandonment of the West) served on the U.S. State Department's Policy Planning Staff, specializing in policy toward Ukraine. His excellent book contains qualities seldom present in narrating an ongoing conflict. He finds the origins of Russia's invasion in Putin's contempt for Europe and democracy, in a gross underestimation of Zelensky's Ukraine, and in a conflation of projected success with past conflict in the former Soviet Republics of Georgia and Moldova. He faults the West for ineffective deterrence and cites Europe's fecklessness in the ill-framed Minsk agreements following the 2014 war over Crimea and the Donbas. Kimmage argues that Washington's error consisted in refusing Kyiv lethal military aid after 2014, leaving a line of ineffective policy through the 2022 war. His book asserts that the Biden administration's quest for "guardrails" in relations with Russia could hardly succeed after the confusion of the Trump presidency and the absence of a a coordinated Western response to Russian belligerence before 2022. VERDICT A compelling and detailed account that reveals some little known facts and a deeply sobering analysis of Putin's invasion of Ukraine, its consequences for Russia, and the many assumptions about European security.—Zachary Irwin
Kirkus Reviews
★ 2023-12-06
The background to one of the most dangerous geopolitical clashes of the post–Cold War era.
Kimmage, a history professor and author of Abandonment of the West, admits that he is not an expert on Ukraine. As a scholar in political science, however, he provides well-informed and realistic, if bleak, context for current events. Russia’s 2022 invasion, writes the author, marked the end of “three of the most peaceful, most promising, most prosperous decades in European history.” Upon Ukrainian independence in 1991, U.S. officials treated the new nation lazily, overpromising (dangling but refusing NATO membership in 2008) and then refusing to arm it after Russia’s takeover of Crimea in 2014. With no nostalgia for communism but yearning (along with most Russians) to make his nation powerful again on the global stage, Putin noted that NATO had also declined to admit Georgia in 2008. A few months later, his army invaded Georgia, and America and its NATO allies expressed outrage but took no action. In 2014, the Russian army occupied Crimea and other areas in eastern Ukraine. Most Russians were pleased, while the U.S. and other powers expressed outrage and imposed sanctions but failed to take real action. Putin regularly proclaims that the U.S. is an empire in decline. Kimmage admits that this is a reasonable impression, observing that 21st-century America has stumbled badly through two stalemated wars, a depression, and a disastrous presidency. Having triumphed in two earlier wars, Putin had no doubt he was on a roll, but matters did not work out so well in his third. In a fitting conclusion to his well-researched book, the author expresses mild approval of Biden’s response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but he knows too much history to predict a satisfying outcome.
Political maneuvering rarely begets a page-turner, but Kimmage’s insightful account is just that.
