title: Kto Vinovat?* Why is there a crisis in Russia's relations with the West?
abstract: This article addresses the deterioration in relations between Russia and the West from their high point in the early 1990s to the current conflict over issues such as Ukraine and Syria. It discusses the dominant modes of understanding that decline, notably the propositions, on the one hand, that this decline is a result of Western policies and, on the other hand, that the decline follows naturally from the characteristics and aspirations of the Russian state and its leaders. It suggests that the