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Putin's People by Catherine Belton
Mar. 13th, 2021 03:23 pmPutin's People: How the KGB Took Back Russia and then Took on the West
3/5. Recounting of the infiltration of the security services (so, by definition, organized crime) into control of the Russian state and economy over thirty years. The sheer scale of the looting of assets is stunning, and that's not even to mention the evidence this book lays out suggesting various governmental figures orchestrated mass civilian casualties for their own political ends. For all that, this book is really boring? It's stylistically dry and more inclined to spend its time on talking about money than people. It's also not really about Putin who, to be fair, is a cipher in a lot of important ways, so much so that her guess as to his thoughts and motivations is probably little better than anyone else's, even though she clearly did years of research.
Anyway, that is a kleptocratic autocracy; the candyass crap Trump pulled is a pale imitation.
3/5. Recounting of the infiltration of the security services (so, by definition, organized crime) into control of the Russian state and economy over thirty years. The sheer scale of the looting of assets is stunning, and that's not even to mention the evidence this book lays out suggesting various governmental figures orchestrated mass civilian casualties for their own political ends. For all that, this book is really boring? It's stylistically dry and more inclined to spend its time on talking about money than people. It's also not really about Putin who, to be fair, is a cipher in a lot of important ways, so much so that her guess as to his thoughts and motivations is probably little better than anyone else's, even though she clearly did years of research.
Anyway, that is a kleptocratic autocracy; the candyass crap Trump pulled is a pale imitation.