Conventional wisdom treats Russian politics as either an extension of Vladimir Putin's worldview or Russia's unique history, but in Weak Strongman, Timothy Frye, the Marshall D. Shulman Professor of Post-Soviet Foreign Policy at Columbia University, emphasizes Russia's similarities to other autocracies and highlights the difficult trade-offs that confront the Kremlin on issues from election fraud and repression to propaganda and foreign policy. Balancing personal anecdotes from his 30 years of researching Russia and cutting-edge social science, Weak Strongman offers the best evidence available about how Russia actually works, why Russia invaded Ukraine, and what the future holds for US-Russian relations.
Timothy Frye is the Marshall D. Shulman Professor of Post-Soviet Foreign Policy and professor of political science at Columbia University.
Frye worked on a cultural exchange program for the United States Information Agency in six cities in the Soviet Union in the late 1980s and advised the Russian Securities and Exchange Commission in the 1990s. He directed the Harriman Institute at Columbia from 2009 to 2015 and co-directed a research laboratory at the Higher School of Economics in Moscow from 2011-2022.
Frye is the editor of Post-Soviet Affairs and the author of four books, most recently Weak Strongman: The Limits of Power in Putin’s Russia, which was shortlisted for the 2022 Pushkin House Prize for best non-fiction book about Russia. He will hold the Library of Congress Chair on US-Russian Relations beginning in January 2023.
Frye earned a B.A. in Russian Language and Literature from Middlebury College, an M.A. in International Affairs and a Ph.D. in Political Science from Columbia University. He taught at The Ohio State University for 8 years before he returned to Columbia University in 2006
Professor Frye’s Athenaeum presentation is co-sponsored by the Keck Center for International and Strategic Studies at CMC.
Food for Thought: Podacast with Timothy Frye
