The Russia Hand: A Memoir of Presidential DiplomacyNATIONAL BESTSELLER • A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK • “A rich and revealing account of the turbulent relationship between the U.S. and Russia during the first post-Cold War years. . . . Essential for any understanding of this critical and even dangerous period.”—Elizabeth Drew “A fascinating memoir of a weirdly unpredictable world.”—The New York Review of Books In the eight years Bill Clinton was president, as Russia lurched from crisis to crisis, each one more horrifying than the last, Clinton and his foreign-policy team found they faced no greater task than helping to keep Russia stable and at peace with herself and her neighbors. Strobe Talbott’s mesmerizing account of this struggle reveals what a close-run thing this was, and how much the relationship between George W. Bush and Vladimir Putin has been defined by the work of Bill Clinton. Written with a novelistic richness and energy, The Russia Hand is the first great book about war and peace in the post-Cold War world. It is also the one book anyone needs to understand Russia’s fateful transformation and future possibilities after ten years as a democracy. |
Contents
The Hedgehog and the Bear | 3 |
THE FIRST TERM | 35 |
The Main Chance | 37 |
The Spinach Treatment | 72 |
Kick the Can | 92 |
The Big Nyet | 121 |
The High Wire | 147 |
Chains of Command | 169 |
Sleeping with the Porcupine | 217 |
Bad Business | 251 |
Just Showing Up | 274 |
Hammer and Anvil | 298 |
The Jaws of Victory | 332 |
The Black Belt | 350 |
On Defense | 370 |
Transition and Continuity | 398 |
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
ABM treaty administration agreed Ahtisaari alliance allies ambassador American asked Balkans Baltic Belgrade Bill bombing Boris Yeltsin Bosnia Bush called campaign Chechen Chechnya Chernomyrdin Chris Clinton and Yeltsin communists deal defense democracy deputy diplomatic Duma economic election enlargement Europe European forces foreign minister former Soviet Union Gaidar gave going Gorbachev Gore Grachev Helsinki Igor Ivanov Iran issue Ivanov Ivashov Kiriyenko knew Kosovo Kozyrev Kremlin Larry Larry Summers leaders Lebed look Madeleine meeting ment military Milošević Ministry missile Moscow NATO NATO-Russia negotiations nuclear Partnership for Peace president presidential Primakov prime minister Priština problem Putin reform Russian government Sandy Berger Secretary Christopher seemed Serbs Sergeyev sian Soviet Union START II Stepashin strategic summit talk tion told trip troops trying U.S.-Russian relations Ukraine USSR Vladimir Putin wanted Washington White House Yevgeny Primakov Yuri Mamedov Zhirinovsky Zyuganov