Ivan Kurilla studies the history of U.S.–Russian relations and the political uses of the past. His research examines how societies construct collective identities through two closely related mechanisms: interpretations of their own history and representations of the “Other.” Historical narratives provide a language for explaining continuity and change, while images of foreign countries offer a comparative framework through which political possibilities are imagined and debated. Combining intellectual history with the history of international relations, he explores how perceptions of Russia and the United States have shaped political discourse, identity formation, and historical memory in both societies.
Selected books:
In English
Kurilla, Ivan, David S. Foglesong, and Victoria I. Zhuravleva. Distant Friends and Intimate Enemies: A History of Russian-American Relations. Cambridge University Press, 2025.
Kurilla, Ivan. Battle for the Past: How Politics Rewrites History. Palgrave Macmillan, 2025.
Kurilla, Ivan (ed.). Carl W. Ackerman, Trailing the Bolsheviki: Twelve Thousand Miles with the Allies in Siberia. Slavica, 2020 (2nd ed.,
Anthem Press, 2025).
Kurilla, Ivan and Victoria I. Zhuravleva (eds.). Russian/Soviet Studies in the United States, Amerikanistika in Russia: Mutual Representations in Academic Projects. Lexington Books, 2016.
Kurilla, Ivan and Victoria I. Zhuravleva (eds.). Echoes of the American Civil War Abroad: Perceptions, Identities, and Historical Memory. Bloomsbury, forthcoming.
In Russian
Kurilla, Ivan. Amerikantsy i vse ostalnye: Istoki i smysl vneshney politiki SShA (Americans and All the Rest: Origin and Meaning of U.S.
Foreign Policy). Alpina, 2024. English edition forthcoming.
Kurilla, Ivan. Bitva za proshloe: Kak politika menyaet istoriyu (Battle for the Past: How Politics Changes History). Alpina, 2022.
Kurilla, Ivan. Zaklyatye druzia: Istoriya mneniy, fantazii, kontaktov, vzaimo(ne)ponimania Rossii i SShA (Frenemies: History of Opinions,
Fantasies, Contacts, and Mutual (Mis)Understanding of Russia and the United States). NLO, 2018.
Kurilla, Ivan. Istoriya, ili Proshloe v nastoyashchem (History, or the Past in the Present). European University Press, 2017.
Kurilla, Ivan. Zaokeanskie partnery: Amerika i Rossiya v 1830–1850-e gody (Transoceanic Partners: America and Russia in the 1830s–1850s). Volgograd: Volgograd State University Press, 2005.
Last updated March 2026.
