Description
After a landslide win in the parliamentary elections in December 2006, Russian President Vladimir Putin is poised to lead his country for many years to come, making it more urgent than ever for the West to have a realistic view of Russia. Since taking power, Putin has transformed his country from a threadbare economy and fragile democracy into a prosperous but autocratic state, hostile to the United States and Europe. But the West has been slow to confront this new reality, in effect helping Russia win early battles in what experts are calling the New Cold War. In this hard-hitting, urgently needed book, former Moscow bureau chief for The Economist Edward Lucas offers a gripping portrait of Russia today. This book anticipates what is in store for the new Russia, explains how it will affect the United States, and reveals what the world should be doing.
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In late 1999 when Vladimir Putin was named Prime Minister, Russia was a budding democracy. Multiple parties campaigned for seats in the Duma, the nation’s parliament. The media criticized the government freely. Eight years later as Putin completes his second term as president of Russia and announces his bid for prime minister, the country is under a repressive regime. Human rights abuses are widespread. The Kremlin is openly hostile to the West. Yet the United States and Europe have been slow to confront the new reality, in effect, helping Russia win what experts are now calling the New Cold War. Edward Lucas, former Moscow Bureau Chief for The Economist, offers a harrowing portrait from inside Russia as well as a sobering political assessment of what the New Cold War will mean for the world. In this big, hard hitting and urgently needed book, he shows how* Russia is pursuing global energy markets* Neighboring nations are being coerced back into the former Soviet orbit* Journalists and dissidents are being silenced* Foreign investments and private enterprises are routinely defrauded* Putin is laying the groundwork for controlling industry and planning his new role as prime ministerDrawing on new and hitherto reported material, The New Cold War brilliantly anticipates what is in store for the new Russia and what the world should be doing.
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