From Cold War To Hot Peace : An American Ambassador in Putin's Russia
Author(s): Michael McFaul
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER | From the diplomat Putin wants to interrogate—and has banned from Russia—comes a revelatory inside account of US-Russia relations across the three decades following the Cold War.
In 2008, when Michael McFaul was asked to leave his perch at Stanford and join an unlikely presidential campaign, he had no idea that he would find himself at the beating heart of one of today’s most contentious and consequential international relationships.
As President Barack Obama’s adviser on Russian affairs, McFaul helped craft the United States’ policy known as “reset” that fostered new and unprecedented collaboration between the two countries. And then, as US ambassador to Russia from 2012 to 2014, he had a front-row seat when this fleeting, hopeful moment crumbled with Vladimir Putin’s return to the presidency.
This riveting inside account combines history and memoir to tell the full story of US-Russia relations from the fall of the Soviet Union to the new rise of the hostile, paranoid Russian president. From the first days of McFaul’s ambassadorship, the Kremlin actively sought to discredit and undermine him, hassling him with tactics that included dispatching protesters to his front gates, slandering him on state media, and tightly surveilling him, his staff, and his family.
From Cold War to Hot Peace is an essential account of the most consequential global confrontation of our time.
Review(s):
“A fascinating and timely account of the current crisis in the relationship between Russia and the United States."
"McFaul succeeds, shedding needed light on the most geopolitically competitive relationship of the last 75 years and attempting to explain the 'why and what' of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election."
"Careful about providing evidence for his hard-earned opinions, [McFaul] is always clear and successfully assesses the level of complexity we lay-readers need to understand academic theories about revolutions and economics."
"An invaluable memoir."
"Vigorously argued."
"An expert political chronicle that often reads like a fast-paced thriller."
"Mike McFaul has lived history. In this terrific book, he recounts a pivotal time in U.S.-Russian relations, bringing the perspective of a central participant and one of America's finest scholars of Russian politics. This book will be valued by students, experts, historians and diplomats for years to come. It is a good read and an invaluable contribution at a crucial time."
"[McFaul] provides useful insights into the changing relationship between America and Russia in this smart, personable mix of memoir and political analysis... an essential volume for those trying to understand one of the U.S.’s most significant current rivals."
"Of interest to observers of the unfolding constitutional crisis as well as of Russia's place in the international order."
“As both a first-hand observer and a key participant in many of the recent events that have shaped US-Russia relations, Ambassador McFaul has an important story to tell. From Cold War to Hot Peace is a gripping and intensely personal account of one of the most complex and consequential geopolitical developments of our time.”
ISBN: 9781328624383