
The Story of Putin (Annotated)
Enriched Edition. Post-Soviet Russia, Security-State Power, and the Geopolitics of Modern Authoritarian RuleBy United States Department of Defense, U.S. Navy, Christopher T. GansLength5h 9m
About this audiobook
The Story of Putin offers a compact yet consequential study of political biography, strategic culture, and the making of modern authoritarian power. Drawing on documentary, analytical, and institutional modes of writing, the volume situates Vladimir Putin within the post-Soviet transformation of Russia, the legacy of security-state governance, and the geopolitical pressures that reshaped relations between Russia and the West. Its significance lies in connecting personal narrative to broader questions of statecraft, ideology, and military-political ambition. Associated with the United States Department of Defense, the U.S. Navy, and Christopher T. Gans, the work reflects a perspective shaped by national security analysis, professional military education, and historical inquiry. Rather than treating Putin merely as an isolated figure, it aligns with studies of leadership, intelligence culture, and post-Cold War international order. These institutional and scholarly voices together illuminate how biography can become a lens for understanding policy, conflict, and strategic decision-making. Readers interested in contemporary Russia, security studies, political leadership, or international relations will find this volume a valuable point of entry. It invites sustained reflection on the interplay between individual agency and historical circumstance, offering insight, context, and a framework for further inquiry into one of the defining figures of twenty-first-century geopolitics.
This enriched edition has been carefully crafted to add value to your reading experience.
- Hand‐picked Memorable Quotes shine a spotlight on moments of literary brilliance.
- Interactive footnotes clarify unusual references, historical allusions, and archaic phrases for an effortless, more informed read.
Audiobook details
GenrePolitics and Government, Literary Classics
Length5 hrs 9 mins
Narrated byListen with 1,000+ voices
FormateBook with Audio
Publish dateDec 5, 2023
LanguageEnglish
Table of contents
1The Story of Putin (Annotated)
2I. PUTINIST AUTHORITARIANISM AND ANTI-AMERICANISM: AN INTRODUCTION
3A. PURPOSE
4B. IMPORTANCE
5C. HYPOTHESIS AND THEORY
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6D. BACKGROUND
71. Putin’s Evolving Anti-Americanism
82. Putin’s Hybrid-Authoritarian Machine
93. Implications of Russians’ Anti-Americanism
10E. METHODOLOGY AND SOURCES
11F. ROADMAP
12II. VLADIMIR PUTIN’S ANTI-AMERICANISM: OUTWARDLY FLUCTUATING BUT INTERNALLY CONSISTENT?
13A. PUTIN’S EARLY HISTORY
141. Early Life and College
152. Into the Shadows: Putin in the KGB and the Case for a Long Term Cognitive Predisposition
16B. YELTSIN ERA
171. Putin in the Aftermath of Collapse
182. Russia and the West in the 1990s: U.S. as an Inadvertent Contributor to Putinist Anti-Americanism
19a. NATO
20b. Balkans
21c. Economic Collapse and the Absence of U.S. Aid
22C. PUTIN: A SUDDEN THRUST INTO THE LIMELIGHT
231. Putin’s Short-Lived Premiership and Acting Presidency
24a. Crisis in Chechnya
25b. Presidential Election of 2000
26D. PUTIN’S FIRST PRESIDENCY
271. Integrate Into or With the West… or Neither?
282. The Attacks of 9/11 and the Aftermath
293. Brotherly Love: Putin and Bush
304. Iraq and a Sudden Turn Against America?
315. Elections of 2003 and 2004
32E. PUTIN’S SECOND PRESIDENCY
331. Shift from the West
342. America Inadvertently Plays into Putin’s Hand
35a. NATO
36b. The Future of U.S. Unilateralism
37c. BMD
38d. Western Turn by Former Constituent States
393. Critical Reciprocity? Attack on Those who Criticize Him
40F. PRESIDENT TO PUPPETMASTER AND BACK AGAIN: PUTIN’S RECENT PREMIERSHIP AND RETURN TO THE PRESIDENCY
411. Georgia
422. The Obama-Medvedev Reset: Short Lived or DOA?
433. The 2012 Election and Putin’s Third Term
444. Ongoing Events
45G. CONCLUSIONS
46III. VLADIMIR PUTIN’S RUSSIA: BETWEEN DEMOCRACY AND DICATORSHIP?
47A. WHAT MAKES AN AUTHORITARIAN STATE?
481. True Authoritarian States
492. Hybrid Authoritarian States
50B. PUTIN’S AUTHORITARIAN CONTROLLED DEMOCRACY: THE MECHANISMS