J. Paul Goode is Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Oklahoma, USA.
Overall, the book produces a well-measured assessment of the results of Putin's federal reforms revealing the inherent limits to the Kremlin's attempts to control regional responses and cautioning against overly optimistic assessments of recent centralization efforts. Noting the remaining outlets for regionalist revival in Russia, Goode presents Russia's center-periphery relations as more flexible and fluid than is commonly perceived based on more rigid assessments of Putin's alleged success in centralizing Russia. - Gulnaz Sharafutdinova, Miami University of Ohio; Slavic Review, Spring 2013.