Abstract
<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title> <jats:p>This book traces the evolution of Russia’s political economy from the rise of Muscovy to the present, examining how enduring patterns of state dominance, security priorities, and resource dependence have shaped its development. It argues that Russia’s economic trajectory reflects a deep historical continuity in which the state has remained the central agent of modernization, often at the expense of market institutions and private enterprise. The study explores the Soviet experiment in central planning, its achievements and contradictions, and the collapse that gave rise to the chaotic market transition of the 1990s. It analyses the consolidation of state capitalism under Vladimir Putin, the partial modernization efforts of the Medvedev presidency, and the growing reassertion of state control amid economic crises, sanctions, and geopolitical confrontation. The later chapters assess Russia’s integration into the global economy, the impact of Western isolation after 2014 and 2022, and the domestic challenges posed by demographic decline, regional disparities, and technological stagnation. Across five centuries, Russia’s economy has oscillated between reform and retrenchment, openness and autarky, stability and crisis. The book concludes that while the Russian state has repeatedly demonstrated resilience, its continued dominance constrains innovation and diversification, leaving the economy powerful but brittle, modern yet dependent, and globally integrated yet increasingly isolated.</jats:p>