Читать книгу The Putin Predicament - Bo Petersson - Страница 5

This book has been long in the making. For several years during my academic career, I devoted myself to university management matters, and the little time that I had available for research went into the writing of shorter texts to keep the kettle boiling at least to some extent. This was in a way also a necessity, since my generation of social scientists has had to re-learn, from knowing that it was the writing of monographs that mattered into the new wisdom that only peer-reviewed articles in high impact journals count. Having reached a mature age and being at the stage of my academic career when I can afford the luxury of writing what I want rather than what I should, I have now finally wrapped up this book project. That is a rewarding feeling.

Several people have helped me along the final stretch of the road, and I am indebted to them all. I would like to thank the following colleagues and friends who have read the manuscript, made comments, and contributed to its improvement. Heartfelt thanks therefore go to Anders Blixt, Richard Brander, Derek Stanford Hutcheson, Kalle Kniivilä, Inger Sjunnesson, Andreas Umland, and Carolina Vendil Pallin. Of course, the responsibility for remaining flaws and shortcomings remains solely my own. I would also like to express my appreciation to Jean Hudson for her careful language editing of my text, and to J. Paul Goode for kindly agreeing to write the foreword. Thanks also to Pelle Mickwitz and, again, Richard Brander who have provided regular pep talk and general inspiration during our Thursday night zoom seminars all through the dark and gloomy years of the pandemic. My sincerest thanks go to my family, to Sanja, Teodor and Isidor, who have accepted my reclusive behavior and long evenings in the study without holding them too much against me. Without their moral support and understanding, I would never have been able to finish the book.