The raging question in the world today is who is the real Vladimir Putin and what are his intentions. Karen Dawisha's brilliant "Putin's Kleptocracy" provides an answer, describing how Putin got to power, the cabal he brought with him, the billions they have looted, and his plan to restore the Greater Russia. Russian scholar Dawisha describes and exposes the origins of Putin's kleptocratic regime. She presents extensive new evidence about the Putin circle's use of public positions for personal gain even before Putin became president in 2000. She documents the establishment of Bank Rossiya, now sanctioned by the US; the rise of the Ozero cooperative, founded by Putin and others who are now subject to visa bans and asset freezes; the links between Putin, Petromed, and "Putin's Palace" near Sochi; and the role of security officials from Putin's KGB days in Leningrad and Dresden, many of whom have maintained their contacts with Russian organized crime. "Putin's Kleptocracy" is the result of years of research into the KGB and the various Russian crime syndicates. Dawisha's sources include Stasi archives; Russian insiders; investigative journalists in the US, Britain, Germany, Finland, France, and Italy; and Western officials who served in Moscow. Russian journalists wrote part of this story when the Russian media was still free. "Many of them died for this story, and their work has largely been scrubbed from the Internet, and even from Russian libraries," Dawisha says. "But some of that work remains." -- Publisher description

The USSR at the moment of collapse -- The making of money and power : the establishment of Putin's Circle, from the KGB to St. Petersburg, 1985-1996 -- Putin in St. Petersburg, 1990-1996 : accusations of illicit activities -- Putin in Moscow, 1996-1999 -- Putin prepares to take over : from Prime Minister to Acting President, December 1999-May 2000 -- The founding of the Putin System : his first hundred days and their consequences, May-August 2000 -- Russia, Putin, and the future of kleptocratic authoritarianism.