Crises in Russia

Boris Porfiriev is Head of the Risk and Crisis Research Center and Head of the Laboratory for Analysis and Forecasting of Natural and Technological Risks for Economic Development at the Institute of Economic Forecasting, Russian Academy of Sciences, and Director of the Center for Environmental and Technological Research at the International Research Institute for Advanced Systems, Russia. Greg Simons, Crisis Management Europe Programme at Crismart (Centre for Crisis Management Research and Training) at the Swedish National Defence College, Sweden.

Offers a unique overview of this giant’s weaknesses. The overlapping of responsibilities, and the tendency to mix institutions from different eras of development and institutional cultures, show how problematic incomplete reform is combined with the huge impact that civil emergencies and man-made crisis can have for an enormous centralized but anarchic bureaucracy.’ Iulian Chifu, Conflict Prevention and Early Warning Center, Romania ’In the increasingly interdependent world under circumstances of globalization, crises management in Russia is a significant issue, not only for countries like Latvia which are situated in the neighbourhood of this regional power, but for the whole of Europe. This study, involving both Russian and Western scholars, makes a great contribution to the field.’ Ainars Dimants, Turiba University, Latvia

• Introduction; I: Transitional Crisis Management Policy and Russia; 1: Crisis Management and the Mass Media in Russia: Following the Historical Perspectives; 2: The Institutional Framework and Governance Model of Russia's Crisis Policy: Disaster Focus; II: Crisis Development and Management: Case Studies of Environmental and Technological Disasters; 3: Managing Alleviation of the 1995 Neftegorsk Earthquake Disaster: A Reminiscence 1; 4: Managing the Ecological Disaster in the Town of Karabash; 5: Communicating Tragedy and Values through the Mass Media During Crises: The Lessons of Submarine Accidents in Russia 1; III: Crisis Development and Management: Case Studies of Social and Political Conflicts; 6: Social Security Policy for the Chernobyl Clean-up and Rescue Workers: Crisis Chronology and Lessons; 7: Institutional Issues and the Management of the Creeping Crisis in the Kabardino-Balkaria Republic of Russia; 8: Political and Institutional Factors of the Russian Banking Crisis of 2004; IV: Transitional Crisis Management Policy: From Hypotheses to Findings; 9: Vulnerability and Crisis Development: Lessons from Russia and Other Emerging Economies; 10: Conclusion: Crisis Management Policy in Transitional Societies – Beyond the Russian Experience