Author: John Heathershaw
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0197688225
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 329
Book Description
In recent decades, there has been an upsurge of western professionals providing financial and legal services to kleptocrats Russia and Eurasia. The United Kingdom has provided more such services than any other nation, and the effect has been to undermine democracy and good governance in both the UK and in the countries these elites come from. By cataloging through rich case studies of how kleptocrats offshored their wealth and exploited both financial deregulation and the UK's punitive libel regime, this book demonstrates what is at stake politically in the globalization of authoritarian regime practices.
Indulging Kleptocracy
Author: John Heathershaw
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0197688225
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 329
Book Description
In recent decades, there has been an upsurge of western professionals providing financial and legal services to kleptocrats Russia and Eurasia. The United Kingdom has provided more such services than any other nation, and the effect has been to undermine democracy and good governance in both the UK and in the countries these elites come from. By cataloging through rich case studies of how kleptocrats offshored their wealth and exploited both financial deregulation and the UK's punitive libel regime, this book demonstrates what is at stake politically in the globalization of authoritarian regime practices.
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0197688225
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 329
Book Description
In recent decades, there has been an upsurge of western professionals providing financial and legal services to kleptocrats Russia and Eurasia. The United Kingdom has provided more such services than any other nation, and the effect has been to undermine democracy and good governance in both the UK and in the countries these elites come from. By cataloging through rich case studies of how kleptocrats offshored their wealth and exploited both financial deregulation and the UK's punitive libel regime, this book demonstrates what is at stake politically in the globalization of authoritarian regime practices.
American Kleptocracy
Author: Casey Michel
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
ISBN: 1250274532
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 232
Book Description
A remarkable debut by one of America's premier young reporters on financial corruption, Casey Michel's American Kleptocracy offers an explosive investigation into how the United States of America built the largest illicit offshore finance system the world has ever known. "An indefatigable young American journalist who has virtually cornered the international kleptocracy beat on the US end of the black aquifer." —The Los Angeles Review of Books For years, one country has acted as the greatest offshore haven in the world, attracting hundreds of billions of dollars in illicit finance tied directly to corrupt regimes, extremist networks, and the worst the world has to offer. But it hasn’t been the sand-splattered Caribbean islands, or even traditional financial secrecy havens like Switzerland or Panama, that have come to dominate the offshoring world. Instead, the country profiting the most also happens to be the one that still claims to be the moral leader of the free world, and the one that claims to be leading the fight against the crooked and the corrupt: the USA. American Kleptocracy examines just how the United States’ implosion into a center of global offshoring took place: how states like Delaware and Nevada perfected the art of the anonymous shell company, and how post-9/11 reformers watched their success usher in a new flood of illicit finance directly into the U.S.; how African despots and post-Soviet oligarchs came to dominate American coastlines, American industries, and entire cities and small towns across the American Midwest; how Nazi-era lobbyists birthed an entire industry of spin-men whitewashing trans-national crooks and despots, and how dirty money has now begun infiltrating America's universities and think tanks and cultural centers; and how those on the front-line are trying to restore America's legacy of anti-corruption leadership—and finally end this reign of American kleptocracy.
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
ISBN: 1250274532
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 232
Book Description
A remarkable debut by one of America's premier young reporters on financial corruption, Casey Michel's American Kleptocracy offers an explosive investigation into how the United States of America built the largest illicit offshore finance system the world has ever known. "An indefatigable young American journalist who has virtually cornered the international kleptocracy beat on the US end of the black aquifer." —The Los Angeles Review of Books For years, one country has acted as the greatest offshore haven in the world, attracting hundreds of billions of dollars in illicit finance tied directly to corrupt regimes, extremist networks, and the worst the world has to offer. But it hasn’t been the sand-splattered Caribbean islands, or even traditional financial secrecy havens like Switzerland or Panama, that have come to dominate the offshoring world. Instead, the country profiting the most also happens to be the one that still claims to be the moral leader of the free world, and the one that claims to be leading the fight against the crooked and the corrupt: the USA. American Kleptocracy examines just how the United States’ implosion into a center of global offshoring took place: how states like Delaware and Nevada perfected the art of the anonymous shell company, and how post-9/11 reformers watched their success usher in a new flood of illicit finance directly into the U.S.; how African despots and post-Soviet oligarchs came to dominate American coastlines, American industries, and entire cities and small towns across the American Midwest; how Nazi-era lobbyists birthed an entire industry of spin-men whitewashing trans-national crooks and despots, and how dirty money has now begun infiltrating America's universities and think tanks and cultural centers; and how those on the front-line are trying to restore America's legacy of anti-corruption leadership—and finally end this reign of American kleptocracy.
The Great Survivor of the Tudor Age
Author: Alex Anglesey
Publisher: Pen and Sword History
ISBN: 1399035118
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 376
Book Description
Discover the captivating rise and fall of William Paget, as he emerges from obscurity to become one of Henry VIII's most influential advisors, navigating court intrigues, imprisonment, and political machinations as he goes on to shape and define Tudor history. Like Cromwell and Wolsey before him, William Paget came from nowhere to become one of Henry VIII's most powerful 'new men'. After serving as ambassador to the Court of Francis I of France, he became Henry's most influential foreign policy advisor and developed a close relationship with Emperor Charles V. He had the king's ear in Henry's later years, was the key player in drafting his will ( was it a forgery?) and in enabling Somerset to become Lord Protector in the reign of the boy king, Edward VI. For a while, he was Somerset's 'right-hand man'. When Somerset fell, Paget was imprisoned in the Tower and nearly executed. But he survived and regained power. He had a major role in delivering the Crown to the Catholic queen, Mary, and in arranging her marriage to Philip II of Spain, whom he then advised on English politics. He kept in with the Protestant princess Elizabeth and survived to have influence when she came to the throne. William was the founder of the aristocratic Paget family - Barons of Beaudesert, Earls of Uxbridge and Marquesses of Anglesey. From records of the mansion that he built on a site next to today's Heathrow Airport, a picture has been created of how life was actually lived in a Tudor household at the personal family level. The story is partly told from previously unexamined family letters. It is an exciting narrative of dramatic ups and downs: from rags to riches, plague to plenty, and prison to peerage. Court intrigues, conspiracies, rebellions and coups, follow one after the other. William is usually in the thick of it, the power behind the throne.
Publisher: Pen and Sword History
ISBN: 1399035118
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 376
Book Description
Discover the captivating rise and fall of William Paget, as he emerges from obscurity to become one of Henry VIII's most influential advisors, navigating court intrigues, imprisonment, and political machinations as he goes on to shape and define Tudor history. Like Cromwell and Wolsey before him, William Paget came from nowhere to become one of Henry VIII's most powerful 'new men'. After serving as ambassador to the Court of Francis I of France, he became Henry's most influential foreign policy advisor and developed a close relationship with Emperor Charles V. He had the king's ear in Henry's later years, was the key player in drafting his will ( was it a forgery?) and in enabling Somerset to become Lord Protector in the reign of the boy king, Edward VI. For a while, he was Somerset's 'right-hand man'. When Somerset fell, Paget was imprisoned in the Tower and nearly executed. But he survived and regained power. He had a major role in delivering the Crown to the Catholic queen, Mary, and in arranging her marriage to Philip II of Spain, whom he then advised on English politics. He kept in with the Protestant princess Elizabeth and survived to have influence when she came to the throne. William was the founder of the aristocratic Paget family - Barons of Beaudesert, Earls of Uxbridge and Marquesses of Anglesey. From records of the mansion that he built on a site next to today's Heathrow Airport, a picture has been created of how life was actually lived in a Tudor household at the personal family level. The story is partly told from previously unexamined family letters. It is an exciting narrative of dramatic ups and downs: from rags to riches, plague to plenty, and prison to peerage. Court intrigues, conspiracies, rebellions and coups, follow one after the other. William is usually in the thick of it, the power behind the throne.
Indulging Kleptocracy
Author: John Heathershaw
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0197688233
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 329
Book Description
A powerful and sophisticated analysis of how Western professionals have enabled kleptocratic elite networks and undermined the rule of law. After the Cold War ended, the British government created the conditions under which a large, multinational class of extremely wealthy kleptocrats based primarily in Russia and Eurasia could move to and thrive in London with a genuine sense of impunity. What is the role of professional enablers in the rise of kleptocracy? In Indulging Kleptocracy, John Heathershaw, Tena Prelec, and Tom Mayne examine the broad range of financial, legal, and related services provided in the UK with respect to suspicious wealth from Russian and Eurasian elites. Through a series of rich, gripping case studies, the authors show how powerful legal and financial service industries that know how to game the system have made it possible for these corrupt elites to operate with relative impunity. They detail how these enablers exploit deregulation and the under-enforcement of the law, offshore their clients' wealth, and enhance their reputations and influence via philanthropy, political donations and the use of the UK's punitive libel regime. They further argue that kleptocracy is not just a moral and economic problem that sits at the margins of real politics, but it impoverishes the global south and undermines institutions in the global north, eroding faith in democracy by empowering corrupt elite business-political networks in global politics. Shedding light on dangerous patterns of corruption, Indulging Kleptocracy explores one of the most fascinating stories in the post-Cold War era and offers suggestions on how to break the system of indulgences and stymie the globalization of kleptocracy.
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0197688233
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 329
Book Description
A powerful and sophisticated analysis of how Western professionals have enabled kleptocratic elite networks and undermined the rule of law. After the Cold War ended, the British government created the conditions under which a large, multinational class of extremely wealthy kleptocrats based primarily in Russia and Eurasia could move to and thrive in London with a genuine sense of impunity. What is the role of professional enablers in the rise of kleptocracy? In Indulging Kleptocracy, John Heathershaw, Tena Prelec, and Tom Mayne examine the broad range of financial, legal, and related services provided in the UK with respect to suspicious wealth from Russian and Eurasian elites. Through a series of rich, gripping case studies, the authors show how powerful legal and financial service industries that know how to game the system have made it possible for these corrupt elites to operate with relative impunity. They detail how these enablers exploit deregulation and the under-enforcement of the law, offshore their clients' wealth, and enhance their reputations and influence via philanthropy, political donations and the use of the UK's punitive libel regime. They further argue that kleptocracy is not just a moral and economic problem that sits at the margins of real politics, but it impoverishes the global south and undermines institutions in the global north, eroding faith in democracy by empowering corrupt elite business-political networks in global politics. Shedding light on dangerous patterns of corruption, Indulging Kleptocracy explores one of the most fascinating stories in the post-Cold War era and offers suggestions on how to break the system of indulgences and stymie the globalization of kleptocracy.
Billion Dollar Whale
Author: Bradley Hope
Publisher: Hachette Books
ISBN: 0316436488
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 412
Book Description
Named a Best Book of 2018 by the Financial Times and Fortune, this "thrilling" (Bill Gates) New York Times bestseller exposes how a "modern Gatsby" swindled over $5 billion with the aid of Goldman Sachs in "the heist of the century" (Axios). Now a #1 international bestseller, Billion Dollar Whale is "an epic tale of white-collar crime on a global scale" (Publishers Weekly), revealing how a young social climber from Malaysia pulled off one of the biggest heists in history. In 2009, a chubby, mild-mannered graduate of the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business named Jho Low set in motion a fraud of unprecedented gall and magnitude--one that would come to symbolize the next great threat to the global financial system. Over a decade, Low, with the aid of Goldman Sachs and others, siphoned billions of dollars from an investment fund--right under the nose of global financial industry watchdogs. Low used the money to finance elections, purchase luxury real estate, throw champagne-drenched parties, and even to finance Hollywood films like The Wolf of Wall Street. By early 2019, with his yacht and private jet reportedly seized by authorities and facing criminal charges in Malaysia and in the United States, Low had become an international fugitive, even as the U.S. Department of Justice continued its investigation. Billion Dollar Whale has joined the ranks of Liar's Poker, Den of Thieves, and Bad Blood as a classic harrowing parable of hubris and greed in the financial world.
Publisher: Hachette Books
ISBN: 0316436488
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 412
Book Description
Named a Best Book of 2018 by the Financial Times and Fortune, this "thrilling" (Bill Gates) New York Times bestseller exposes how a "modern Gatsby" swindled over $5 billion with the aid of Goldman Sachs in "the heist of the century" (Axios). Now a #1 international bestseller, Billion Dollar Whale is "an epic tale of white-collar crime on a global scale" (Publishers Weekly), revealing how a young social climber from Malaysia pulled off one of the biggest heists in history. In 2009, a chubby, mild-mannered graduate of the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business named Jho Low set in motion a fraud of unprecedented gall and magnitude--one that would come to symbolize the next great threat to the global financial system. Over a decade, Low, with the aid of Goldman Sachs and others, siphoned billions of dollars from an investment fund--right under the nose of global financial industry watchdogs. Low used the money to finance elections, purchase luxury real estate, throw champagne-drenched parties, and even to finance Hollywood films like The Wolf of Wall Street. By early 2019, with his yacht and private jet reportedly seized by authorities and facing criminal charges in Malaysia and in the United States, Low had become an international fugitive, even as the U.S. Department of Justice continued its investigation. Billion Dollar Whale has joined the ranks of Liar's Poker, Den of Thieves, and Bad Blood as a classic harrowing parable of hubris and greed in the financial world.
Luxury and Corruption
Author: Tereza Østbø Kuldova
Publisher: Policy Press
ISBN: 1529212421
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 241
Book Description
The world has been bombarded in recent years with images of the luxurious lives and wealth of corrupt oligarchs and kleptocrats, amassed at the expense of ordinary people. Such images exploit our feelings of injustice, are taken as indicative of moral decay, and inspire a desire to purge our economies of dirty money, objects, and people. But why do anti-corruption efforts routinely fail? What kind of world are they creating? Looking at luxury art, antiquities, superyachts, and populist politics, this book explores the connection between luxury and corruption, and offers an alternative to the received wisdom of how we tackle corruption.
Publisher: Policy Press
ISBN: 1529212421
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 241
Book Description
The world has been bombarded in recent years with images of the luxurious lives and wealth of corrupt oligarchs and kleptocrats, amassed at the expense of ordinary people. Such images exploit our feelings of injustice, are taken as indicative of moral decay, and inspire a desire to purge our economies of dirty money, objects, and people. But why do anti-corruption efforts routinely fail? What kind of world are they creating? Looking at luxury art, antiquities, superyachts, and populist politics, this book explores the connection between luxury and corruption, and offers an alternative to the received wisdom of how we tackle corruption.
The Conservatives Since 1945
Author: Tim Bale
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 019923437X
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 385
Book Description
The Conservatives since 1945 is about how and why parties in general, and the Conservative Party in particular, make changes to the face they present to the electorate, the way they organize themselves, and the policies they come up with. This is an in-depth but comprehensive study based on original archival sources.
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 019923437X
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 385
Book Description
The Conservatives since 1945 is about how and why parties in general, and the Conservative Party in particular, make changes to the face they present to the electorate, the way they organize themselves, and the policies they come up with. This is an in-depth but comprehensive study based on original archival sources.
Tyranny of Greed
Author: Timothy R Kuhner
Publisher: Stanford University Press
ISBN: 1503614026
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 149
Book Description
“If you’re as worried about the effects of Trump’s election as I am, then this brave and surprising book is for you.” —Reza Aslan, #1 New York Times-bestselling author Democracy is being destroyed by an ancient evil, and modernity is in denial. In Tyranny of Greed, Timothy K. Kuhner reveals the United States to be a government by and for the wealthy, with Trump—the spirit of infinite greed—at its helm. Taking readers on a tour through evolutionary biology, psychology, and biblical sources, Kuhner explores how democracy emerged from religious and revolutionary awakenings. He argues that to overcome Trump’s regime and establish real democracy, we must reconnect with that radical heritage. Our political tradition demands a revolution against corruption. “Many books are announcing the downfall of American democracy, but Tyranny of Greed operates on another level. It’s an original and powerful work of art. Tapping into a deeper awareness, Kuhner helps us recognize this dark time for what it really is—an opportunity for rebirth. Yes, I feel shaken, but also awakened. The more people who read this book, the more transformative our national conversation will become.”—Frances Moore Lappé, bestselling author of Diet for a Small Planet “Explosive, penetrating and utterly compelling, Kuhner charts the death spiral of American democracy as it collapses into the black hole of the religion of money. Never before in human history have noble ideals been corrupted so deeply with the connivance of so many. This book lays tyranny bare for all to see—as a mirror for the human soul.” —Philip Goodchild, author of Theology of Money
Publisher: Stanford University Press
ISBN: 1503614026
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 149
Book Description
“If you’re as worried about the effects of Trump’s election as I am, then this brave and surprising book is for you.” —Reza Aslan, #1 New York Times-bestselling author Democracy is being destroyed by an ancient evil, and modernity is in denial. In Tyranny of Greed, Timothy K. Kuhner reveals the United States to be a government by and for the wealthy, with Trump—the spirit of infinite greed—at its helm. Taking readers on a tour through evolutionary biology, psychology, and biblical sources, Kuhner explores how democracy emerged from religious and revolutionary awakenings. He argues that to overcome Trump’s regime and establish real democracy, we must reconnect with that radical heritage. Our political tradition demands a revolution against corruption. “Many books are announcing the downfall of American democracy, but Tyranny of Greed operates on another level. It’s an original and powerful work of art. Tapping into a deeper awareness, Kuhner helps us recognize this dark time for what it really is—an opportunity for rebirth. Yes, I feel shaken, but also awakened. The more people who read this book, the more transformative our national conversation will become.”—Frances Moore Lappé, bestselling author of Diet for a Small Planet “Explosive, penetrating and utterly compelling, Kuhner charts the death spiral of American democracy as it collapses into the black hole of the religion of money. Never before in human history have noble ideals been corrupted so deeply with the connivance of so many. This book lays tyranny bare for all to see—as a mirror for the human soul.” —Philip Goodchild, author of Theology of Money
Thieves of State: Why Corruption Threatens Global Security
Author: Sarah Chayes
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
ISBN: 0393246531
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 249
Book Description
Winner of the 2015 Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Current Interest. "I can’t imagine a more important book for our time." —Sebastian Junger The world is blowing up. Every day a new blaze seems to ignite: the bloody implosion of Iraq and Syria; the East-West standoff in Ukraine; abducted schoolgirls in Nigeria. Is there some thread tying these frightening international security crises together? In a riveting account that weaves history with fast-moving reportage and insider accounts from the Afghanistan war, Sarah Chayes identifies the unexpected link: corruption. Since the late 1990s, corruption has reached such an extent that some governments resemble glorified criminal gangs, bent solely on their own enrichment. These kleptocrats drive indignant populations to extremes—ranging from revolution to militant puritanical religion. Chayes plunges readers into some of the most venal environments on earth and examines what emerges: Afghans returning to the Taliban, Egyptians overthrowing the Mubarak government (but also redesigning Al-Qaeda), and Nigerians embracing both radical evangelical Christianity and the Islamist terror group Boko Haram. In many such places, rigid moral codes are put forth as an antidote to the collapse of public integrity. The pattern, moreover, pervades history. Through deep archival research, Chayes reveals that canonical political thinkers such as John Locke and Machiavelli, as well as the great medieval Islamic statesman Nizam al-Mulk, all named corruption as a threat to the realm. In a thrilling argument connecting the Protestant Reformation to the Arab Spring, Thieves of State presents a powerful new way to understand global extremism. And it makes a compelling case that we must confront corruption, for it is a cause—not a result—of global instability.
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
ISBN: 0393246531
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 249
Book Description
Winner of the 2015 Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Current Interest. "I can’t imagine a more important book for our time." —Sebastian Junger The world is blowing up. Every day a new blaze seems to ignite: the bloody implosion of Iraq and Syria; the East-West standoff in Ukraine; abducted schoolgirls in Nigeria. Is there some thread tying these frightening international security crises together? In a riveting account that weaves history with fast-moving reportage and insider accounts from the Afghanistan war, Sarah Chayes identifies the unexpected link: corruption. Since the late 1990s, corruption has reached such an extent that some governments resemble glorified criminal gangs, bent solely on their own enrichment. These kleptocrats drive indignant populations to extremes—ranging from revolution to militant puritanical religion. Chayes plunges readers into some of the most venal environments on earth and examines what emerges: Afghans returning to the Taliban, Egyptians overthrowing the Mubarak government (but also redesigning Al-Qaeda), and Nigerians embracing both radical evangelical Christianity and the Islamist terror group Boko Haram. In many such places, rigid moral codes are put forth as an antidote to the collapse of public integrity. The pattern, moreover, pervades history. Through deep archival research, Chayes reveals that canonical political thinkers such as John Locke and Machiavelli, as well as the great medieval Islamic statesman Nizam al-Mulk, all named corruption as a threat to the realm. In a thrilling argument connecting the Protestant Reformation to the Arab Spring, Thieves of State presents a powerful new way to understand global extremism. And it makes a compelling case that we must confront corruption, for it is a cause—not a result—of global instability.
Armageddon Averted
Author: Stephen Kotkin
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199743843
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 330
Book Description
Featuring extensive revisions to the text as well as a new introduction and epilogue--bringing the book completely up to date on the tumultuous politics of the previous decade and the long-term implications of the Soviet collapse--this compact, original, and engaging book offers the definitive account of one of the great historical events of the last fifty years. Combining historical and geopolitical analysis with an absorbing narrative, Kotkin draws upon extensive research, including memoirs by dozens of insiders and senior figures, to illuminate the factors that led to the demise of Communism and the USSR. The new edition puts the collapse in the context of the global economic and political changes from the 1970s to the present day. Kotkin creates a compelling profile of post Soviet Russia and he reminds us, with chilling immediacy, of what could not have been predicted--that the world's largest police state, with several million troops, a doomsday arsenal, and an appalling record of violence, would liquidate itself with barely a whimper. Throughout the book, Kotkin also paints vivid portraits of key personalities. Using recently released archive materials, for example, he offers a fascinating picture of Gorbachev, describing this virtuoso tactician and resolutely committed reformer as "flabbergasted by the fact that his socialist renewal was leading to the system's liquidation"--and more or less going along with it. At once authoritative and provocative, Armageddon Averted illuminates the collapse of the Soviet Union, revealing how "principled restraint and scheming self-interest brought a deadly system to meek dissolution." Acclaim for the First Edition: "The clearest picture we have to date of the post-Soviet landscape." --The New Yorker "A triumph of the art of contemporary history. In fewer than 200 pagesKotkin elucidates the implosion of the Soviet empire--the most important and startling series of international events of the past fifty years--and clearly spells out why, thanks almost entirely to the 'principal restraint' of the Soviet leadership, that collapse didn't result in a cataclysmic war, as all experts had long forecasted." -The Atlantic Monthly "Concise and persuasive The mystery, for Kotkin, is not so much why the Soviet Union collapsed as why it did so with so little collateral damage." --The New York Review of Books
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199743843
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 330
Book Description
Featuring extensive revisions to the text as well as a new introduction and epilogue--bringing the book completely up to date on the tumultuous politics of the previous decade and the long-term implications of the Soviet collapse--this compact, original, and engaging book offers the definitive account of one of the great historical events of the last fifty years. Combining historical and geopolitical analysis with an absorbing narrative, Kotkin draws upon extensive research, including memoirs by dozens of insiders and senior figures, to illuminate the factors that led to the demise of Communism and the USSR. The new edition puts the collapse in the context of the global economic and political changes from the 1970s to the present day. Kotkin creates a compelling profile of post Soviet Russia and he reminds us, with chilling immediacy, of what could not have been predicted--that the world's largest police state, with several million troops, a doomsday arsenal, and an appalling record of violence, would liquidate itself with barely a whimper. Throughout the book, Kotkin also paints vivid portraits of key personalities. Using recently released archive materials, for example, he offers a fascinating picture of Gorbachev, describing this virtuoso tactician and resolutely committed reformer as "flabbergasted by the fact that his socialist renewal was leading to the system's liquidation"--and more or less going along with it. At once authoritative and provocative, Armageddon Averted illuminates the collapse of the Soviet Union, revealing how "principled restraint and scheming self-interest brought a deadly system to meek dissolution." Acclaim for the First Edition: "The clearest picture we have to date of the post-Soviet landscape." --The New Yorker "A triumph of the art of contemporary history. In fewer than 200 pagesKotkin elucidates the implosion of the Soviet empire--the most important and startling series of international events of the past fifty years--and clearly spells out why, thanks almost entirely to the 'principal restraint' of the Soviet leadership, that collapse didn't result in a cataclysmic war, as all experts had long forecasted." -The Atlantic Monthly "Concise and persuasive The mystery, for Kotkin, is not so much why the Soviet Union collapsed as why it did so with so little collateral damage." --The New York Review of Books