Books About Russian President Putin and the Forces That Shaped Him

In an interview more than twenty years ago, Vladimir V.Putin Congratulating himself a bit in his youth, he described himself as “a hooligan”. When the interviewer asked if he exaggerated his tendency to get into fights as a student, Putin was offended.

“You’re trying to insult me,” he said. “I was a real bandit.”

Russian-American journalist and Moscow native Masha Gessen describes this shift in a 2012 biography titled “The Man Without a Face: The Possible Rise of Vladimir Putin.” New York Times Book Review. According to Gessen, Putin’s self-identification as a “thug” was key to his self-image: someone who is not bullied, attacks unexpectedly when he feels humiliated, and enjoys violence.

Understanding Putin and the forces that shaped him became a pressing global concern as leaders around the world sought to determine their motivations to launch an unprovoked and catastrophic attack. occupation of Ukrainehow to best interact with it and How can conflict develop?.

So far, the military offensive has been a terrible misstepresulting in a economic sanctions and heavy military losses Mass civilian casualties as well as for Russia and destruction in many Ukrainian cities Putin claims he wants to be “liberated”.

Despite all this, Putin repeatedly said in his public statements that the war continues. “According to the plan.”

As the conflict escalated, the question of what was driving Putin became an increasingly puzzling question that had no clear answers. tremendous results: The war will be over, some experts say, When the Russian president let it end.

Gessen set out to understand the mindset of the Russian leader more than a decade ago. article for Vanity Fair, later in “The Man Without a Face”. Tracing Putin’s rise from a moody and rebellious schoolboy to a KGB agent rising to the presidency of Russia, Gessen examined the post-Soviet political, cultural and economic forces that enabled Putin’s rise, and how he disparaged the West to consolidate his dominance in power. .

After Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea, Gessen wrote a footnote summarizing Putin’s increasingly aggressive stance against Western democracies and his evolution “from a bureaucrat mistakenly entrusted to a great country to a megalomaniac dictator who believes he is on a civilization mission.”

In a recent phone call, Gessen discussed several books that offer insights into Putin’s psychology and topics that illuminate the cultural and geopolitical context that helped shape Putin’s Russia.

Below are Gessen’s recommendations, lightly edited for clarity.

‘Winter Is Coming: Why Vladimir Putin and the Enemies of the Free World Must Be Stopped’ Garry Kasparov’s photo. Public Relations, 2015.

Russian chess grandmaster Kasparov is a longtime critic of Putin.

“Kasparov thinks of life as chess. And he looks at it as a series of games. He doesn’t really look at Putin’s psychology, he looks at the logic of his actions and says, ‘Okay, that’s how we play’. And it’s not refreshing. I mean, the book isn’t new and at the time he was pretty sure Putin was at war with the west at that point.

It’s funny because it really didn’t take pressure to see it, one had to just pay attention and not stick to the conventional wisdom of “but that’s not possible, that’s crazy, he really didn’t mean it that way”. “We’re going to look at this period between 2012 and 2022 as a time when it happened a lot, the war escalated slowly, and most of the world denies it.”

‘First Person: The Surprising Frank Self-Portrait of the President of Russia.’ by Vladimir Putin. Public Relations, 2000.

A compilation of interviews with Putin, published in the United States in 2000.

“I found it incredibly enlightening because if you read it as a document of what this man wanted to tell the world about himself, you would learn a lot. It’s not a very long book and it doesn’t have much variety, but it tells about three different fights he’s been through. When one was a kid, he felt mistreated by a teacher if I remember correctly. When one was a student and the other a young officer. And in all three cases he attacks. He basically loses his temper and then goes quiet a bit and then attacks again.

Here’s what he’s talking about: This is someone who has no desire to control his anger. He thinks of himself as an aggressor, a vengeful person. He likes to attack suddenly, but at the same time – and that’s what I’m most worried about right now – he’ll be quiet for a while and then attack again. It’s actually an MO that’s important to his sense of self.”

‘Nature’s Evil: A Cultural History of Natural Resources.’ With Alexander Effective. Policy, 2021.

This book examines how civilization and politics have been shaped by resources such as coal, oil, and grain.

“I would recommend anything written by Russian cultural historian, Alexander Aktifd. His latest book is called “The Evil of Nature” and it is a cultural history of natural resources. It’s not entirely limited to Russia, but I think it really goes a long way in explaining how Russia works.”

‘Anatomy of Post-Communist Regimes.’ By Balint Magyar and Balint Madlovics. CEU Press, 2020.

Magyar, a social scientist and former politician, looks at how post-communist regimes have led to autocrats cracking down on the media and political opposition.

“Anything from Balint Magyar. He is a Hungarian social scientist and he has this volume, this huge book called ‘The Anatomy of Post-Communist Regimes’. A little on the technical side, but incredibly enlightening. I think his favorite book is called “Post-Communist Mafia State,” which is claimed to be about Hungary but is the best book for understanding post-communist Russia and how the regime works.