A history of Russian violence waged against Ukraine across the centuries.
Russia's brutal invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 shocked the world. And yet this attack was in fact the latest episode in a centuries-long Russian campaign. In Intent to Destroy, leading scholar of genocide and Eastern Europe Eugene Finkel uncovers the deep roots of the Russo-Ukrainian War. Ever since the rise of Russian nationalism in the nineteenth century, the domination of this key borderland has become a cornerstone of Russian and Soviet policy. Using genocidal tactics - killings, deportations, starvation and cultural destruction - against ethnic Ukrainians and minorities including Tatars, Jews and Poles, Russia's long-standing policy has aimed to obliterate Ukrainian identity. This eradication has consistently been a part of the Kremlin playbook and leads inexorably to the violence we see today.
Eugene Finkel is a political scientist, historian of genocide, and an expert on Ukraine. He is associate professor of international affairs at the Johns Hopkins University, School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). His first book, Ordinary Jews: Choice and Survival during the Holocaust was published by Princeton University Press and won several awards. His second book, Reform and Rebellion in Weak States (co-authored with Scott Gehlbach) was published by Cambridge University Press.
Interviews with Eugene have been published in Newsweek, The Independent, Der Spiegel, Die Zeit and multiple other media outlets in Europe, North America, and Asia. He has also published in the Washington Post, The Hill, and Haaretz.Ukraine's problem is that Russia has not only tried and mostly succeeded in dominating it for two hundred years, but that as a consequence its own distinct history and narratives have been eclipsed, especially for foreigners. Today, then, it is more vital than ever that we understand the roots of this war. Eugene Finkel has written a superb and above all readable guide for the perplexed . . . Finkel has done a masterful job in giving us a clear understanding of what we need to know
--Tim Judah, author of IN WARTIME: STORIES FROM UKRAINE