Dr. Kreutz has been a scholar in history, politics, international law and international relations for more than 50 years, focusing in recent years on post-Soviet Russia's place in the international system. He has been a lecturer and a visiting professor in Canada and Poland on topics including History of Russian and Eastern European Culture, Middle Eastern Politics, and Comparative Politics and International Relations, teaching at the Department of History, the Department of Political Science, and the Faculty of Continuing Education at the University of Calgary; Department of Policy Studies, Mount Royal College; and in Poland at the Institute of International Studies, University of Lódz, among others.

He earned a PhD from the University of Toronto with a focus on Third World Politics and International Relations, presenting his dissertation on "The Vatican and the Third World: The Case of the Palestinians," which was published by Greenwood Press. At the Faculty of Law, University of Nicolaus Copernicus, Torun, Poland, he prepared a doctoral dissertation on the History of Political Thought with a focus on "The Concept of Church and State Relations in the Carolingian Model of Western Christendom VIII-XI Centuries." Studying Law and History at the Jagiellonian University in Cracow, the author did Master’s work in the field of International Public Law. He has conducted research at the National Archives in Washington, DC, to the Academy of Sciences in Moscow, the Vatican, and the Public Records Office in London.

Dr. Kreutz has written many books and presented papers on topics in Russia and the Arab World, the Post-Cold War International System, and Post-Communist Russia and the Middle East.

He is fluent or conversant in Polish, Russian, French, and other European languages as well as English.

The book's approach is mainly historical; nevertheless it focuses on some of the most important and controversial present day international challenges both in Europe and Asia. Its aims to address academics, journalists and other specialists, but...

The book's approach is mainly historical; nevertheless it focuses on some of the most important and controversial present day international challenges both in Europe and Asia. Its aims to address academics, journalists and other specialists, but also is written for the general public. Its goal is to provide an alternative and unprejudiced view of the "Russian Problem," starting with the recognition that the struggle for survival has been a major challenge in Russia's past and present - a fact that is often seemingly overlooked by those analysts who misconstrue defensive moves as potential aggression. An expert on Eastern Europe and political history, Prof. Kreutz is neither a Russia-sympathizer nor a Russia-basher, but he presents a neutral account of Russia's place in the world. This book fills a gap left by other recent works including the historical monograph by Marshall J. Poe, The Russian Moment in World History, which provides only the introduction and background to the present situations, and Professor Tsygankov's Russia's Foreign Policy: Change and Continuity in National Identity, which is more about various Russian political theories than on the actual socio-political and geopolitical situation of the country. Mankoff's Russian Foreign Policy. The Return of Great Power Politics and Treisman's The Return: Journey from Gorbachev to Medvyedev are focused on the current political issues and make some interesting points; however, they do not seem to perceive the challenges coming to Russia from the neo-capitalist transformations and US imperial expansion in its neighborhood. Dmitri Trenin did not mention much about them either, in Post-Imperium-Eurasian Story. While presenting a rather bleak picture of present-day Russia, he suggests that Moscow should open itself fully to the capitalist modernization and accept US hegemony. His comparisons of the Soviet Union with the former Western colonial empires are not always convincing. Trenin, a former Soviet Colonel and diplomat is apparently influenced by his present employment with the Carnegie Endowment, but his book is nevertheless informative and makes an interesting contribution to the existing literature on the subject.