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Join us for a discussion with author of recently published book All the Kremlin's Men, author, journalist and historian Mikhail Zygar.
The book was described as a 'Cluster Bomb' in The Economist, that also wrote: "Refreshingly, Mr Zygar chooses to focus not on the president himself, but on the courtiers who have shaped and shepherded him. He tells an insider’s tale, drawing on material collected over many years, latterly as editor-in-chief of TV Rain, Russia’s last independent television network (Mr Zygar stepped down last December, not long after this book was published in Russia). He brings fresh insight to characters such as Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the ex-boss of Yukos who was convicted of underpaying taxes, and Dmitry Medvedev, Russia’s prime minister. And he pulls back the curtain on several key figures whom Western readers may not know, such as Viktor Medvedchuk, the chief-of-staff of the former Ukrainian president, Leonid Kuchma, and Vyacheslav Volodin, a political strategist who engineered Mr Putin’s conservative turn in his third term."
The account is an ambitious gallop through Putin's presidency that throws light on the evolution of his foreign policy, revealing his initial admiration for Blair, and how he came to feel betrayed by the West. Zygar believes that decision making by the US as well as events in Georgia and Ukraine set Russia on the course that it is on today, and gives an insider's view on this.
Mikhail Zygar is a leading Russian journalist, writer and filmmaker. He is the founding editor-in-chief of the only Russian independent news TV-channel, Dozhd. Dozhd provides an alternative to state-run TV channels by focusing on news content and giving a platform to opposition voices.
Dr Sam Greene is the founding Director of the Russia Institute at King`s College London and senior lecturer in Russian politics. Prior to moving to London in 2012, he lived and worked in Moscow for 13 years, most recently as director of the Centre for the Study of New Media & Society at the New Economic School, and as deputy director of the Carnegie Moscow Center. His book,Moscow in Movement: Power & Opposition in Putin`s Russia, was published in August 2014 by Stanford University Press. He holds a PhD in political sociology from the London School of Economics and Political Science. Sam is a Trustee of Pushkin House.