Putin has mastered the art of power. Depending on what is at stake, that involves the deft wielding of appropriate or smart ingredients of hard physical power like armoured divisions, multinational corporations, and assassins, and soft psychological power like diplomats, honey-traps, cyber-trolls, and fake news factories to defeat threats and seize opportunities. Russian hackers penetrated the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and Hillary Clinton's campaign organization, extracted tens of thousands of potentially embarrassing emails, and posted them on WikiLeaks. As the Kremlin's latest ruler Putin, like most of his predecessors, is as realistic as he is ruthless. He knows the limits of Russian hard and soft power while constantly trying to expand them. He is doing whatever he can to advance Russian national interests as he interprets them. In Putin's mind, Russia can rise only as far as the West can fall. And on multiple fronts he is methodically advancing to those ends. Putin's Virtual War reveals just how and why he does so, and the dire consequences for America, Europe, and the world beyond.

Pt. I Russian Power and Culture -- ch. 1 The Russian Empire's Rise and Fall -- ch. 2 The Soviet Empire's Rise and Fall -- pt. II Putin and Power -- ch. 3 Putin's Rise to Power -- ch. 4 Putin's System of Power -- ch. 5 Putin's Assertion of Power -- pt. III Putin and the World -- ch. 6 Russia and America -- ch. 7 Russia and Europe -- ch. 8 Russia and the World Beyond -- ch. 9 Russia and the Future.