Skip to main content
  • Sections
  • Search

Center for Strategic & International Studies

User menu

  • Subscribe
  • Sign In

Topics

  • Cybersecurity and Technology
    • Cybersecurity
    • Intelligence, Surveillance and Privacy
    • Military Technology
    • Space
    • Technology and Innovation
  • Defense and Security
    • Counterterrorism and Homeland Security
    • Defense Budget
    • Defense Industry, Acquisition, and Innovation
    • Defense Strategy and Capabilities
    • Geopolitics and International Security
    • Long-Term Futures
    • Missile Defense
    • Space
    • Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation
  • Economics
    • Asian Economics
    • Global Economic Governance
    • Trade and International Business
  • Energy and Sustainability
    • Climate Change and Environmental Impacts
    • Energy and Geopolitics
    • Innovation and New Energy Sources
    • Markets, Trends, and Outlooks
  • Global Health
    • Family Planning, Maternal and Child Health, and Immunizations
    • Multilateral Institutions
    • Health and Security
    • Infectious Disease
  • Human Rights
    • Civil Society
    • Transitional Justice
    • Human Security
  • International Development
    • Food and Agriculture
    • Governance and Rule of Law
    • Humanitarian Assistance
    • Private Sector Development
    • U.S. Development Policy

Regions

  • Africa
    • North Africa
    • Sub-Saharan Africa
  • Americas
    • Caribbean
    • North America
    • South America
  • Arctic
  • Asia
    • Afghanistan
    • Australia, New Zealand & Pacific
    • China
    • India
    • Japan
    • Korea
    • Pakistan
    • Southeast Asia
  • Europe
    • European Union
    • NATO
    • Post-Soviet Europe
    • Turkey
  • Middle East
    • The Gulf
    • Egypt and the Levant
    • North Africa
  • Russia and Eurasia
    • The South Caucasus
    • Central Asia
    • Post-Soviet Europe
    • Russia

Sections menu

  • Programs
  • Experts
  • Events
  • Analysis
    • Blogs
    • Books
    • Commentary
    • Congressional Testimony
    • Critical Questions
    • Interactive Reports
    • Journals
    • Newsletter
    • Reports
    • Transcript
  • Podcasts
  • iDeas Lab
  • Transcripts
  • Web Projects

Main menu

  • About Us
  • Support CSIS
    • Securing Our Future
Report
Share
  • LinkedIn
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Email
  • Printfriendly.com

The Kremlin Playbook

Understanding Russian Influence in Central and Eastern Europe

October 13, 2016

ISBN# 978-1-4422-7958-2 (pb); 978-1-4422-7959-9 (eBook)
CSIS/Rowman & Littlefield
Download the Report



Purchase a print version

There was a deeply held assumption that, when the countries of Central and Eastern Europe joined NATO and the European Union in 2004, these countries would continue their positive democratic and economic transformation. Yet more than a decade later, the region has experienced a steady decline in democratic standards and governance practices at the same time that Russia’s economic engagement with the region expanded significantly. Regional political movements and figures have increasingly sought to align themselves with the Kremlin and with illiberalism. Central European governments have adopted ambiguous—if not outright pro-Russian—policy stances that have raised questions about their transatlantic orientation and produced tensions within Western institutions. Are these developments coincidental, or has the Kremlin sought deliberately to erode the region's democratic institutions through its influence to “break the internal coherence of the enemy system”?

The CSIS Europe Program, in partnership with the Bulgarian Center for the Study of Democracy, recently concluded a 16-month study to understand the nature of Russian influence in five case countries: Hungary, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Latvia, and Serbia. This research determined that Russia has cultivated an opaque web of economic and political patronage across the region that the Kremlin uses to influence and direct decisionmaking. This web resembles a network-flow model—or “unvirtuous circle”—which the Kremlin can use to influence (if not control) critical state institutions, bodies, and economies, as well as shape national policies and decisions that serve its interests while actively discrediting the Western liberal democratic system. The United States can no longer be indifferent to these negative developments, as all members of NATO and the European Union must collectively recognize that Russian influence is not just a domestic governance challenge but a national security threat.


Explore the five case studies: Bulgaria | Hungary | Latvia | Serbia | Slovakia

Downloads
Download PDF file of "The Kremlin Playbook"
Bulgaria Case Study
Hungary Case Study
Latvia Case Study
Serbia Case Study
Slovakia Case Study
Written By
Heather A. Conley
Senior Vice President for Europe, Eurasia, and the Arctic; and Director, Europe Program
James Mina
Ruslan Stefanov
Director, Economics Program, Center for the Study of Democracy
Martin Vladimirov
Analyst, Center for the Study of Democracy
Purchase
Media Queries
Contact H. Andrew Schwartz
Chief Communications Officer
Tel: 202.775.3242

Contact Emma Colbran
Communications Associate and Program Coordinator
Tel: 202.775.3211
Related
Competing in the Gray Zone, Defense and Security, Europe, Europe Program, Europe in the World, European Defense and Security, Geopolitics and International Security, Kremlin Playbook, NATO, Post-Soviet Europe, Russia, Russia and Eurasia

Most Recent From Heather A. Conley

Commentary
Brexit Becomes More Baffling by the Day
By Heather A. Conley
February 21, 2019
On Demand Event
The Launch of the Stephenson Ocean Security Project
January 9, 2019
Blog Post
Kremlin Playbook Spotlight: Austria’s Meinl Bank Affairs
By Heather A. Conley, Donatienne Ruy
In Kremlin Playbook Spotlight
December 14, 2018
On Demand Event
2018 Global Security Forum
November 27, 2018
On Demand Event
Press Briefing: Preview of the G20 Summit
November 20, 2018
On Demand Event
The Transatlantic Forum on Russia
November 15, 2018
On Demand Event
Schieffer Series: Foreign Policy Issues Facing the Next Congress
November 14, 2018
On Demand Event
U.S. Senator and experts examine the transatlantic impact.
November 14, 2018
View all content by this expert
Footer menu
  • Topics
  • Regions
  • Programs
  • Experts
  • Events
  • Analysis
  • Web Projects
  • Podcasts
  • iDeas Lab
  • Transcripts
  • About Us
  • Support Us
Contact CSIS
Email CSIS
Tel: 202.887.0200
Fax: 202.775.3199
Visit CSIS Headquarters
1616 Rhode Island Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20036
Media Queries
Contact H. Andrew Schwartz
Chief Communications Officer
Tel: 202.775.3242

Contact Emma Colbran
Communications Associate and Program Coordinator
Tel: 202.775.3211

Daily Updates

Sign up to receive The Evening, a daily brief on the news, events, and people shaping the world of international affairs.

Browse more CSIS Newsletters

Newsletter Subscription
Follow CSIS
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
  • Instagram

All content © 2019. All rights reserved.

Legal menu
  • Credits
  • Privacy Policy
  • Reprint Permissions