Spies and Scholars

Gregory Afinogenov explores centuries of Russian spying and scholarship on the Far East. He argues that the approaches the empire took are closely related to its leaders' perception of Russia's place in the world. Espionage gave way to public-facing, academic study, as Russia sought to outdo Britain in a global contest for imperial prestige.

Gregory Afinogenov is Associate Professor of History at Georgetown University and Editor at Kritika, the leading journal of Russian and Eurasian history. His essays and reviews have appeared in The Nation, London Review of Books, and n+1.