Mr. Putin: Operative in the Kremlin (New and Expanded Edition)

by Fiona Hill, Clifford G. Gaddy

Overview

Fiona Hill and other U.S. public servants have been recognized as Guardians of the Year in TIME's 2019 Person of the Year issue.

From the KGB to the Kremlin: a multidimensional portrait of the man at war with the West.

Where do Vladimir Putin's ideas come from? How does he look at the outside world? What does he want, and how far is he willing to go?

The great lesson of the outbreak of World War I in 1914 was the danger of misreading the statements, actions, and intentions of the adversary. Today, Vladimir Putin has become the greatest challenge to European security and the global world order in decades. Russia's 8,000 nuclear weapons underscore the huge risks of not understanding who Putin is.

Featuring five new chapters, this new edition dispels potentially dangerous misconceptions about Putin and offers a clear-eyed look at his objectives. It presents Putin as a reflection of deeply ingrained Russian ways of thinking as well as his unique personal background and experience.

Praise for the first edition:

“If you want to begin to understand Russia today, read this book.”—Sir John Scarlett, former chief of the British Secret Intelligence Service (MI6)

“For anyone wishing to understand Russia's evolution since the breakup of the Soviet Union and its trajectory since then, the book you hold in your hand is an essential guide.”—John McLaughlin, former deputy director of U.S. Central Intelligence

“Of the many biographies of Vladimir Putin that have appeared in recent years, this one is the most useful.”—Foreign Affairs

“This is not just another Putin biography. It is a psychological portrait.”—The Financial Times

Q: Do you have time to read books? If so, which ones would you recommend? “My goodness, let's see. There's Mr. Putin, by Fiona Hill and Clifford Gaddy. Insightful.”—Vice President Joseph Biden in Joe Biden: The Rolling Stone Interview.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780815726173
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	02/02/2015
Series:	Geopolitics in the 21st Century
Edition description:	New and expanded edition
Pages:	544
Sales rank:	167,997
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 1.50(d)

About the Author

Fiona Hill was director of the Center on the United States and Europe and a senior fellow in Foreign Policy at Brookings.Clifford G. Gaddy was a senior fellow in Foreign Policy at Brookings. Hill and Gaddy are coauthors of The Siberian Curse: How Communist Planners Left Russia Out in the Cold (Brookings, 2003).

Table of Contents

"Contents:

Part I. The Operative Emerges

1. Who Is Mr. Putin?

2. Boris Yeltsin and the Time of Troubles

3. The Statist

4. The History Man

5. The Survivalist

6. The Outsider

7. The Free Marketeer

8. The Case Officer

9. The System

Part II. The Operative Engages

10. The Stakeholders' Revolt

11. Putin's World

12. The American Education of Mr. Putin

13. Russia Resurgent

14. The Operative Abroad

Coda: The Operative in Action

Chronology

Notes on Translations, Transliteration, Nomenclature, Style, and Source

Abbreviations and Acronyms

Notes

Bibliography

Index

"

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"As experienced students of modern Russia, Fiona Hill and Clifford Gaddy are exceptionally well qualified to explain the experiences and influences which shaped the mind of Vladimir Putin, the President who came from nowhere to assert control of a vast and complex country. Theirs is a tough analysis. Not everyone will agree with every aspect. But, if you want to begin to understand Russia today, read this book." —Sir John Scarlett, former Chief of the British Secret
Intelligence Service (MI6)

"For anyone wishing to understand Russia's evolution since the breakup of the Soviet Union and its trajectory since then, the book you hold in your hand is an essential guide. Essential because to a very large degree the country's most recent history is a reflection of the influence of one man, Vladimir Putin. By skillfully dissecting his various 'identities,' showing how these have been reflected in Russian policies and how they may be inadequate to emerging challenges, Hill and Gaddy illuminate not only the recent past but offer a tantalizing glimpse of what the future may hold." —John McLaughlin, former Deputy Director of
U.S. Central Intelligence

"A meticulous psychological portrait of Vladimir Putin and of the highly personalized state he has molded. How Vladimir Putin sees himself is key to how his system works, but, after twelve years of Putin Power, the nation and the people he leads have changed while Putin himself has not. Can Putin reinvent himself? Hill and Gaddy say Russia's new urban middle class wants more than a 'political performance artist." —Jill Dougherty, former Moscow Bureau Chief, CNN

"In this well-written and genuinely entertaining volume, Hill and Gaddy take us behind the theatrics and the rumors to give us a clear and intriguing view of the man himself. They have looked into Putin's eyes and seen... a multiplicity of identities, all of which made him what he is today, and all of which tell us something about the Russia he continues to rule. This book is mandatory reading for the president and his advisers." —Robert Kagan, author of The World America Made

Editorial Reviews

Brookings Institution senior fellows and veteran Russia watchers Hill and Gaddy (The Siberian Curse) bring high-level expertise to bear on the enigma of Vladimir Putin in this illuminating study. The authors divide Putin’s political identity into six basic personas, including the Statist, the History Man, the Survivalist, the Outsider, the Free Marketer and, perhaps most crucially, the Case Officer. Their analysis of each combines enough historical background and contemporary analysis for a graduate-level seminar along with an accessible writing style that won’t deter more casual readers. The History Man, for example, is shown as habitually invoking Russia’s hallowed past to justify his obsession with an ever-looming threat of disorder, while the Case Officer uses persuasive, focused techniques of gaining a target’s confidence, first learned in the KGB, to “enlist every Russian in the service of the state.” Though Hill and Gaddy’s prose often bears a think tank report’s heavy imprint, the authors’ final verdict on the Putin era is astute, warning that unless Putin can adapt and perhaps loosen his grip, this seemingly indispensable man will get the blame when his personalized governance apparatus no longer functions well enough to support his nation’s needs. (Feb.)

Publishers Weekly

“Of the many biographies of Vladimir Putin that have appeared in recent years, this one is the most useful.”—Foreign Affairs

“This is not just another Putin biography. It is a psychological portrait.”—The Financial Times

“Mr Putin, Operative in the Kremlin (note the mister, not comrade) is a readable and informed portrait painted by two students of Russian history who had, at various times in their careers, a front-row view.”—David Hearst, The Guardian

“If you want to begin to understand Russia today, read this book.”—Sir John Scarlett, former chief of the British Secret Intelligence Service (MI6)

Q: Do you have time to read books? If so, which ones would you recommend? “My goodness, let's see. There's Mr. Putin, by Fiona Hill and Clifford Gaddy. Insightful.”—Vice President Joseph Biden in Joe Biden: The Rolling Stone Interview.

“For anyone wishing to understand Russia's evolution since the breakup of the Soviet Union and its trajectory since then, the book you hold in your hand is an essential guide.”—John McLaughlin, former deputy director of U.S. Central Intelligence

From the Publisher