We Need to Talk About Putin: Why the West gets him wrong, and how to get him right PDF
Preview We Need to Talk About Putin: Why the West gets him wrong, and how to get him right
MARK GALEOTTI W E N E E D T O TA L K A B O U T P U T I N WHY THE WEST GETS HIM WRONG Contents Putin’s Timeline Cast of Characters Introduction: Why We Need to Talk About Putin Chapter 1: Putin Is a Judoka, Not a Chess Player Chapter 2: Putin Was KGB, But Not as You Know It Chapter 3: Putin’s Not Looking to Revive the USSR, or Tsarism for That Matter Chapter 4: Putin Sees Money as a Means, Not an End Chapter 5: Putin Doesn’t Read Philosophy, and Russia Is Not Mordor Chapter 6: Putin Is Risk-Averse, Not a Macho Adventurer Chapter 7: Putin Is Popular, and Not Chapter 8: Putin Is Loyal to His Own Chapter 9: Putin’s Enemies Don’t Always Die Chapter 10: Putin Is Just One Guy Chapter 11: Does Putin Want Out? About the Author Professor Mark Galeotti is one of the foremost Russia-watchers today, who travels there regularly to teach, lecture, talk to his contacts, and generally watch the unfolding story of the Putin era. Based in London, he is Senior Non-Resident Fellow at the Institute of International Relations Prague, having previously headed its Centre for European Security, and was before then Professor of Global Affairs at NYU. A prolific author on Russia and security affairs, he frequently acts as consultant to various government, commercial and law-enforcement agencies. ‘Putin is a nicer person than I am.’ Donald Trump, 2015 Putin’s Timeline 7 October 1952 Born in Leningrad (now St Petersburg) 1964 Begins to learn judo 1970–5 Reads Law at Leningrad State University 1975 Joins the KGB 1983 Marries Lyudmila Putina (neé Shkrebneva) 1985–90 Serves in Dresden, East Germany 1990 Returns to Leningrad and moves onto the KGB’s ‘active reserve’ Assigned to work at Leningrad State University 1991–4 Works in Leningrad Mayor’s Office (the name St Petersburg is restored in October 1991) 1991 Formally leaves the KGB 1994–6 First deputy mayor of St Petersburg 1996 Moves to Moscow after the electoral defeat of Mayor Anatoly Sobchak 1996–7 Deputy head of the Presidential Property Management Directorate 1997–8 Deputy head, then first deputy head of the Presidential Administration 1998–9 Director of the Federal Security Service 1999 Prime minister 1999 Start of the Second Chechen War 2000–4 First presidential term 2003 Arrest of Mikhail Khodorkovsky 2004–8 Second presidential term 2008–12 Serves as prime minister under Dmitry Medvedev 2008 Invasion of Georgia 2011 Medvedev nominates Putin for the presidency 2012–18 Third presidential term 2011–12 Bolotnaya Square protests against election rigging 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics Annexation of Crimea Intervention in Donbas 2014 Divorces Lyudmila 2015 Intervention in Syria 2018–24? Fourth presidential term Cast of Characters Andropov, Yuri – The formidable KGB chief and then Soviet leader, whom Putin appears to idolise but not understand. FSB – The Federal Security Service, the main internal counter- intelligence and security agency that succeeded the KGB. FSO – The Federal Protection Service, the small army of bodyguards, Kremlin riflemen, food tasters and phone tappers, whose job is to keep Putin and the rest of the government safe and happy. Gorbachev, Mikhail – The last Soviet leader, who reformed the USSR out of existence and appears in many ways to embody precisely what Putin is not. GRU – The Main Intelligence Directorate, the military intelligence agency. Ivanov, Sergei – The urbane KGB veteran who was Putin’s chief of staff and was regarded as a potential successor, but took semi- retirement in 2016. Kabayeva, Alina – The Olympic gold medal-winning rhythmic gymnast rumoured to be Putin’s current lover. Kadyrov, Ramzan – An unpredictable and violent man who professes loyalty to Putin while running the Chechen Republic as a virtually independent fiefdom. KGB – The Committee of State Security, the all-encompassing Soviet domestic security and foreign intelligence service. Kudrin, Alexei – A long-term associate of Putin’s, once a friend and token economic liberal in his government, now somewhat estranged. Medvedev, Dmitry – Putin’s long-suffering prime minister, less his colleague and more his gopher. Navalny, Alexei – The main opposition figure today, an anti- corruption campaigner who uses the Internet to bypass the Kremlin’s efforts to keep him off television. Patrushev, Nikolai – Secretary of the Security Council, former head of the FSB, and a man who makes Putin look like a moderate. Presidential Administration – The most powerful institution in Putin’s Russia, in effect his government-above-the-government. Prigozhin, Yevgeny – A man who has done well by doing whatever Putin needs doing. He is known as ‘Putin’s chef’ because he came to know him when he ran a restaurant in St Petersburg; his companies still provide food for the Kremlin and many government agencies. Roldugin, Sergei – A cellist and childhood friend of Putin’s who is now thought to be worth hundreds of millions of pounds. Rotenberg, Arkady and Boris – Childhood friends and judo sparring partners of Putin’s, who have done very well in business under his rule. Sechin, Igor – Head of the oil firm Rosneft and Putin’s former deputy; the Western media calls him ‘Russia’s Darth Vader’, but no one there would dare.
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