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by Frederick R. Andresen

Everything is difficult and everything is possible.

Understanding another land is best done through its culture, rather than its economics and politics. That is particularly true of Russia. Doing business in Russia is like doing business everywhere else—but different.

"Walking on Ice" puts Russian business on a firm and even a hopeful footing. A veteran of sixteen years of practical experience during trying times, with six years in residence, Andresen tells a seldom heard story of success and personal growth in the color and unpredictability of a changing Russia. Understanding and respecting that cultural foundation is key to working successfully with the Russians. Citing many personal encounters with that impacting heritage, he brings the resulting lessons into believable view. Without glossing over the grosser aspects of Russian dealings, he focuses on the promise of the younger generation who run much of Russia today. Written "from the trenches" in readable and often a humorous voice, it rings true with many who have spent years there. It is mandatory reading for all who contemplate a tour of duty whether government or business in Russia—or simply a serious trip. For those who have been there and done that—it brings back memories, reality, and a maybe a laugh. One cannot put it down.

Andresen writes, "The world is not so flat as to obscure the deeper character of these colorful people, though superficial similarities make these defining traits less visible. Even in this high-tech world, we need to understand the deeper meaning of these people, including those cultural elements that make them behave differently on occasion. Although Russia is in a great state of change, the effects of a thousand years of history are not erased in a decade or two--¬if ever."

Andresen went to Russia in 1991, in the chaos of the collapsing Soviet Union and the promising dawn of a free-market economy. His goal was to create a telecom company, but he quickly learned that he could not do it until he came to understand the evolving Russian mindset¬, the thriving prospects of personal opportunity against the habits of generations of authoritarian rule.

Witnessing the new energy and amazing resourcefulness, particularly among the young, he realized it all had to overcome the cultural "optimistic fatalism and sense of personal inability to make a difference, to affect events." Andresen had many lessons to learn. He writes, "Doing business as a foreigner in Russia is also very much like walking on ice. Nothing is ever secure; nothing is for sure. The reason for this insecurity is of course that Russia is not a country of laws but of personalities and tactics, both unpredictable."

Andresen offers five guiding principles to help one traverse the daily unpredictability of Russian life. He stresses his positive experiences with the new generation of young Russian entrepreneurs; while not overlooking the corruption, or "disorganized crime He urges digging into the rich literary and artistic Russia soul.

From the Johnson Russian List, A project of the World Security Institute, Washington, DC:

"Walking on Ice" is a must-read for anyone who is going to Russia to work or to study. It is for those who teach and for those who are fascinated by other cultures and want to broaden their cultural perspective. See website http://outskirtspress.com/walkingonice. Available from Amazon.

Andrei Zolotov, Jr., Editor, Russia Profile, Moscow writes:

Essentially, it is a collection of essays, although one part of the book is structured in chapters on Russian geography, demography, culture, business and politics, while the other is simply called "An Essay Collection." These pages bear an openly Chekhovian description of a weekend spent at the dacha with an extended Russian family next to a carefully worded account of the role of crime and corruption in business practices and how they can be worked around; a tribute to Boris Pasternak next to a report about the October 1993 revolt and the shelling of parliament from an unusual perspective of a businessman whose operation was headquartered in the Comecon building at the very center of those dramatic events.

The author analyzes the role of the Orthodox Church in shaping the Russian psyche and identity, and categorizes Russian women in types which would make some of them blush. What brings these essays together is a transpiring love for both the strengths and weaknesses of this country and its people.

Andresen was clearly intrigued by the "Russian soul" and made an unpretentious and humorous contribution to unwrapping the "mystery inside the enigma." It rings true even to a skeptical Russian reader instinctively ready to catch factual or contextual flaws in a "naïve foreigner's" reflection on his country.

One of the book's high points is the account of how the author applied Dostoyevsky's "The Grand Inquisitor" chapter to business management. Three things are generic to the traditional Russian character, Andresen wrote, referring to Dostoyevsky: "the idea that good, if any, will come from some unexpected outside source (miracle); that man is not ordained to be responsible for his own welfare and progress (mystery); and that guidance and protection come only from constant dependence on and obedience to someone else (authority). There is a reversion to this in today's Russian government. That situation is pressing to be changed by the young, but it seems always there under the surface."

For business people without a background in Russian studies embarking on a Russia-related project, Andresen gives a short reading list: "The Icon and the Ax" by James Billington, "The Brothers Karamazov" by Fyodor Dostoyevsky and "The Castle" by Franz Kafka. "Walking on Ice" would certainly complement the list—it can be consumed in one trans-Atlantic flight.

Format: 5.5 x 8.5 Paperback
ISBN: 978-1-4327-1352-2
Cover Price: $16.95
Trade Discount: 55%
Pages: 164
Available at: http://outskirtspress.com/walkingonice
Distributed via: Ingram, Baker & Taylor
Published by: Outskirts Press, Inc.
Full trade discount at: http://outskirtspress.com/buybooks
Publication Date: Oct 19, 2007