The Russia Conundrum

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

MIKHAIL KHODORKOVSKY

In the early 2000s, Mikhail Khodorkovsky was the wealthiest man in Russia, the head of the giant Yukos oil company, and ranked 16th on the Forbes list of world billionaires. But his pro-democracy, anti-corruption views led to a clash with President Vladimir Putin, who had him arrested in 2003. Convicted on politically motivated fraud charges, Khodorkovsky spent ten years in Putin’s prison camps, recognised by Amnesty International as a prisoner of conscience. Since his release in December 2013, Khodorkovsky has lived in Switzerland and the UK. He now leads the philanthropic Open Russia organisation, promoting political reform in Russia, including free and fair elections, the protection of journalists and activists, the rule of law and media independence. He has been described by the Economist as ‘the Kremlin’s leading critic-in-exile’. You can sign up for email updates here.

MARTIN SIXSMITH

Martin Sixsmith studied Russian at Oxford, Leningrad and the Sorbonne. He was a Slavics Tutor at Harvard and wrote his postgraduate thesis about Russian poetry. From 1980 to 1997 he was the BBC’s correspondent in Moscow, Washington, Brussels and Warsaw. From 1997 to 2002 he worked for the British government as director of communications and press secretary to several cabinet ministers. He is now a writer, presenter and journalist. He is the author of non-fiction titles including Russia – The Wild East, Putin’s Oil and The Litvinenko File. His bestselling 2009 book, The Lost Child of Philomena Lee, was adapted for film and became the multiple Oscar-nominated Philomena, starring Steve Coogan and Judi Dench. You can sign up for email updates here.

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CONTENTS

Title Page

Copyright Notice

Preface

Introduction

PART ONE – A GREAT EXPERIMENT

  1.  Hopes and Aspirations

  2.  An Open Society

  3.  A Turning Point

  4.  Gambling Big

  5.  The Humbling

PART TWO – ENTER THE STRONGMAN

  6.  All Things to All Men

  7.  The Confrontation

  8.  An Anatomy of Corruption

  9.  Putin Unbound

10.  The Trial

11.  Arrested Development

12.  Gulag

PART THREE – EAST AND WEST

13.  Enemy at the Gates

14.  Managed Democracy

15.  International Operations

16.  What Is Russian for Fake News?

17.  Stop Thinking You Can Be Safe with the Bear

18.  Expansionist Dreams

19.  A Blunt Instrument

20.  You Are Not Safe

21.  Making Martyrs

22.  A Brighter Future

Acknowledgements

Notes

Picture Credits

Index

About the Authors

Copyright

First published in the United States by St. Martin’s Press, an imprint of St. Martin’s Publishing Group

THE RUSSIA CONUNDRUM. Copyright © 2022 by Mikhail Khodorkovsky. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin’s Publishing Group, 120 Broadway, New York, NY 10271.

www.stmartins.com

The Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available upon request.

ISBN 978-1-250-28559-1 (hardcover)

ISBN 978-1-250-28560-7 (ebook)

Our e-books may be purchased in bulk for promotional, educational, or business use. Please contact the Macmillan Corporate and Premium Sales Department at 1-800-221-7945, extension 5442, or by e-mail at MacmillanSpecialMarkets@macmillan.com.

Originally published in Great Britain by WH Allen, a Penguin Random House company

First U.S. Edition: 2022

eISBN: 9781250285607