Andrey Gurkov: Russia’s future lies in decline. Why the decline of this great power cannot be stopped

In his lucid analysis of the signs of socio-economic decline in a Russia deeply scarred by war, Andrey Gurkov focuses on the greatest vulnerabilities:

the demographic crisis, the inefficient raw materials economy, the technological backwardness of industry, the dilapidated infrastructure, and the dangerous disregard for the consequences of climate change for this vast country, around 60 per cent of whose land area consists of permafrost.

These are fascinating insights into a country about which many people in this country still harbour misconceptions. Anyone wishing to understand where Russia is heading and what Europe should prepare for will find Andrey Gurkov’s new book indispensable.

Andrey Gurkov was born in Moscow in 1959 and grew up in East Berlin and later in Bonn, where his father worked as a correspondent for a Soviet daily newspaper. He studied journalism in Moscow and Leipzig. In 1987, he joined the weekly newspaper *Moskovskie Novosti*, which was at the time a pioneer of the glasnost policy, and became editor-in-chief of its German edition, which was published in Cologne from 1988 to 1993 in collaboration with several German publishers under the title *Moskau News*. From 1993 until early 2025, he worked in the Russian editorial department of Deutsche Welle in Bonn.