Brian Taylor

• 2025 Fall
  • PSC 785 Comparative Civil-Military Relations
• 2025 Spring
  • PSC 348 Politics and the Military
• 2024 Spring
  • PSC 347 Politics of Russia

Russian politics, comparative politics, security studies

My primary research interests are in the realm of Russian politics. Much of my research has focused on the development of the Russian state, with particular attention to state coercive organizations, such as the military and the police. I also have written on Russian elite politics, including the nature of Putinism as a mentality and political system. Additional interests include comparative state-building and civil-military relations.

"International Policy Scholars Consortium and Network", Sponsored by Carnegie Corporation of New York.

"Carnegie International Policy Scholars Consortium and Network", Sponsored by Carnegie Corporation of New York.

"The Character and Origins of Partisanship in Turkey:_Doctoral Dissertation Research", Sponsored by American Political Science Association.

"Putinism: How Russia is Misruled", Sponsored by Smith Richardson Foundation.

"Support for Institutes and Research Groups on Qualitative and Multi-Method Research", Sponsored by National Science Foundation.

• Books
  • Taylor, B. D., Russian Politics: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford University Press, 2024.
  • Taylor, B. D., The Code of Putinism. Oxford University Press, 2018.
  • Taylor, B. D., State Building in Putin’s Russia: Policing and Coercion After Communism. Cambridge University Press, 2011.
  • Taylor, B. D., Politics and the Russian Army: Civil-Military Relations, 1689-2000. Cambridge University Press, 2003.
• Journal Articles
  • Taylor, B. D., "NATO Did Not Cause Putin’s Imperial War." The Washington Quarterly, 2025.
  • Taylor, B. D., "What Happened to Soviet Security Studies?: An Essay on the State of the Field." Russian Politics, 2019.
  • Taylor, B. D., "The Russian Siloviki and Political Change." Daedalus , 2017.
  • Taylor, B. D., "Police Reform in Russia: The Policy Process in a Hybrid Regime." Post-Soviet Affairs, 2014.
  • Taylor, B. D., Botea, R., "Tilly Tally: War-Making and State-Making in the Contemporary Third World." International Studies Review, 2008.
  • Taylor, B. D., "Putin’s ‘Historic Mission’: State-Building and the Power Ministries in the North Caucasus." Problems of Post-Communism, 2007.
  • Taylor, B. D., "Force and Federalism: Controlling Coercion in Federal Hybrid Regimes." Comparative Politics, 2007.
• Book Chapters
  • Taylor, B. D., "The Siloviki." In Failure: Russia Under Putin. Brookings Institution Press, 2025.
  • Strokan, M. A., Taylor, B. D., "Intelligence." In The Routledge Handbook of Russian Foreign Policy. Tsygankov, A. P. (ed.) Routledge, 2018.
  • Taylor, B. D., "The Transformation of the Russian State." In The Oxford Handbook of Transformations of the State. Leibfried, S., Huber, E., Lange, M., Levy, J. D., Nullmeier, F. and Stephens, J. D. (eds.) Oxford University Press, 2015.
  • Taylor, B. D., "From Police State to Police State? Legacies and Law Enforcement in Russia." In Historical Legacies of Communism in Russia and Eastern Europe. Beissinger, M., Kotkin, S. (eds.) Cambridge University Press, 2014.
  • Taylor, B. D., "Russia’s Regions and Law Enforcement." In The Dynamics of Russian Politics: Putin's Reform of Federal-Regional Relations. Reddaway, P., Orttung, R. W. (eds.) Rowman & Littlefield, 2005.
  • Taylor, B. D., "Commentary on Moldova." In Managing Conflict in the Former Soviet Union: Russian and American Perspectives. Arbatov, A., Chayes, A., Chayes, A. H. and Olsen, L. (eds.) MIT Press, 1997.
• Book Reviews
  • Taylor, B. D., "Review by Brian D. Taylor, Syracuse University." In Roundtable Review of Prestige, Manipulation, and Coercion: Elite Power Struggles in the Soviet Union and China after Stalin and Mao by Joseph Torrigan. , Roundtable Review 15-45, June 2024. H-Diplo Robert Jervis International Security Studies Forum, 2024.
  • Soldatov, A., Borogan, I. and Taylor, B. D., "Review of The Red Web: The Struggle between Russia's Digital Dictators and the New Online Revolutionaries." In Russian Review. , 2016.
  • Stent, A. E., Taylor, B. D., "Review of The Limits of Partnership: U.S.-Russian Relations in the Twenty-First Century." In Slavic Review. , 2015.
  • Remington, T. F., Taylor, B. D., "Review of Presidential Decrees in Russia: A Comparative Perspective." In Russian Review. , 2015.
  • Barany, Z., Taylor, B. D., "Review of The Soldier and the Changing State." In Perspectives on Politics. , 2013.
  • Sharafutdinova, G., Taylor, B. D., "Review of Political Consequences of Crony Capitalism Inside Russia." In Comparative Political Studies. , 2012.
  • Taylor, B. D., "Review of The Politics of Security in Modern Russia." In Perspectives on Politics. Galeotti, M. (ed.) , 2010.
• Essay
  • Taylor, B. D., "The Russian Siloviki: Twenty Years of Scholarship." Russian Analytical Digest, 2025.
• Monographs
  • Taylor, B. D., "Russia’s Power Ministries: Coercion and Commerce." Institute for National Security and Counterterrorism, Syracuse University, 2007.
  • Taylor, B. D., "Breaking the Disarmament Deadlock: Nuclear Weapons, Arms Control, and Russian-American Relations." In Council for a Livable World Education Fund. , 1998.
• Public Interest Publications
  • Taylor, B. D., de Nevers, R., "Putin's War of Recolonization." In Journal of Democracy (online). , 2023.
  • Taylor, B. D., "The Power Struggle After Putin: Russia's Inevitable Succession Crisis." In Foreign Affairs [online]. , 2022.
  • Taylor, B. D., "Has Putin Lost It?." In Riddle Russia. , 2022.
  • Taylor, B. D., "Understanding Putinism." In PONARS Eurasia Online Academy. , 2021.
  • Taylor, B. D., "Putin's Rules of the Game: The Pitfalls of Russia's New Constitution." In Foreign Affairs [online]. , 2021.
  • Taylor, B. D., "Personality and Power in Russian Foreign Policy." In Project on Russian Power and Purpose in the 21st Century. , 2020.
  • Taylor, B. D., "US-Russia Relations in the Era of High Putinism." In Russia Policy Under the Next U.S. President. , 2020.

Freeman Spogli Institute and Hoover Institution, Stanford University, "“The Russo-Ukraine War: Peace For Our Time?” " (April, 2025)

New York-Russia Public Policy Series , Harriman Institute, Columbia University and the New York University Jordan Center for the Advanced Study of Russia, "The Geopolitics of Ukraine’s Ceasefire Talks (Roundtable). " (March, 2025)

Annual Convention, International Studies Association, "What Does Putin Really Think? A Methodological Provocation" (March, 2025)

Taylor, B. D., Bychkovska, Y., Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies Annual Meeting, "“The Siloviki, Russian Foreign Policy, and Putin’s War” " (November 21, 2024)

Taylor, B. D., Bychkovska, Y., International Studies Association Annual Meeting, "“The Siloviki and Russian Foreign Policy” " (April 5, 2024)

Centre for European, Russian, and Eurasian Studies, University of Toronto, "Putin's War" (March 13, 2024 - March 13, 2024)

“Putin’s Fifth Term: Regime Evolution and Future Challenges", Columbia University and New York University (March 6, 2024)

Department of State, "Russian Presidential Elections" (January 25, 2024 - January 25, 2024)

Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies (ASEEES) Annual Convention, "Putin, the Siloviki, and Russia’s Failure" (November, 2022)

Fulbright Scholar, European University at St. Petersburg, Russia (January, 2011 - June, 2011)

Carnegie Scholar, Carnegie Corporation of New York (2002 - 2003)

George C. Marshall Scholarship (1987 - 1989)

Harry S. Truman Scholarship (1984 - 1986)