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From Cold War to Hot Peace

An American Ambassador in Putin's Russia

Audiobook
2 of 2 copies available
2 of 2 copies available
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 U.S. 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 U.S.-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.
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    • AudioFile Magazine
      LJ Ganser delivers an easygoing conversational style in narrating these memoirs of the former U.S. Ambassador to Russia. McFaul recounts his journey from his high school days through his undergraduate and graduate studies and NGO work in Russia and, finally, his tenure as United States Ambassador to Russia. Deeply involved in politics, McFaul was both an observer and a participant in a number of major events in the decline and fall of the Soviet Union and the rise of post-Soviet Russia. Ganser's pacing, enunciation, and inflection match the text well and make this an enjoyable experience for those interested in one person's experience of contemporary Russia. M.T.F. © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine
    • Publisher's Weekly

      March 5, 2018
      Stanford political science professor McFaul, who was posted to Moscow as U.S. ambassador from 2012 to 2014, provides useful insights into the changing relationship between America and Russia in this smart, personable mix of memoir and political analysis. McFaul first traveled to the then Soviet Union in 1983 as an undergraduate, and his resulting longtime interest in Russia turned to active engagement in 2007, when he was asked to advise the Obama campaign, a role that morphed into a position as special assistant to the president and senior director for Russian affairs. His tenure in the White House and then in Moscow coincided with increased tensions with the Putin regime, which ultimately accused the U.S. of interference in its elections and declared McFaul persona non grata, despite his energetic outreach to the Russian people, which included unprecedented interactions for an American on social media. McFaul does not believe Putinism as it exists today was inevitable, pointing to George W. Bush’s decision to invade Iraq as a “devastating blow to bilateral relations” that might otherwise have continued their post-9/11 progress. The author’s privileged perspective as both an academic and policy maker makes this an essential volume for those trying to understand one of the U.S.’s most significant current rivals. Agent: Tina Bennett, WME.

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  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

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  • English

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