The History Book Club discussion

This is the discussion thread for the book Winter Is Coming: Why Vladimir Putin and the Enemies of the Free World Must Be Stopped by Garry Kasparov.

by Garry Kasparov

Synopsis:

The stunning story of Russia's slide back into a dictatorship-and how the West is now paying the price for allowing it to happen.

The ascension of Vladimir Putin-a former lieutenant colonel of the KGB-to the presidency of Russia in 1999 was a strong signal that the country was headed away from democracy. Yet in the intervening years-as America and the world's other leading powers have continued to appease him-Putin has grown not only into a dictator but an internationalthreat. With his vast resources and nuclear arsenal, Putin is at the center of a worldwide assault on political liberty and the modern world order.

For Garry Kasparov, none of this is news. He has been a vocal critic of Putin for over a decade, even leading the pro-democracy opposition to him in the farcical 2008 presidential election. Yet years of seeing his Cassandra-like prophecies about Putin's intentions fulfilled have left Kasparov with a darker truth: Putin's Russia, like ISIS or Al Qaeda, defines itself in opposition to the free countries of the world.

As Putin has grown ever more powerful, the threat he poses has grown from local to regional and finally to global. In this urgent book, Kasparov shows that the collapse of the Soviet Union was not an endpoint-only a change of seasons, as the Cold War melted into a new spring. But now, after years of complacency and poor judgment, winter is once again upon us.

Argued with the force of Kasparov's world-class intelligence, conviction, and hopes for his home country, Winter Is Coming reveals Putin for what he is: an existential danger hiding in plain sight.

About the Author:

Garry Kasparov spent twenty years as the world's #1 ranked chess player. In 2005, he retired from professional chess to lead the pro-democracy opposition against Vladimir Putin, from street protests to coalition building. In 2012, he was named chairman of the Human Rights Foundation, succeeding Vaclav Havel. He has been a contributing editor to the Wall Street Journal since 1991 and is a senior visiting fellow at the Oxford Martin School. His 2007 book, How Life Imitates Chess, has been published in twenty-six languages. He lives in self-imposed exile in New York with his wife Dasha and their children.

Reviews:

Garry Kasparov has written a passionate indictment both of Russia's kleptocracy and the complacency of Western democracies in the face of Putin. This threat has become our central foreign policy challenge, and Kasparov's arguments are essential in understanding how to face it. - Francis Fukuyama

Garry Kasparov is a mastermind in chess and politics, and he understands the evil of the Putin regime better than anyone. This book is a clear and accurate observation of the mess we are in due to the West's inaction towards Putin, and a stark warning of what will happen if we fail to act in the future. It should be required reading for every head of state and their electorate. - Bill Browder, author of Red Notice

Garry Kasparov has the information-processing capacity of a supercomputer and the eloquence of an extraordinary orator. It takes a mind and a heart like his to analyze the last twenty-five years of the history of Russia in the world and emerge with not only an indictment of Western complicity but a clear call for Western action. - Masha Gessen, author of Man Without a Face and Words Will Break Cement

It's always important to read Garry Kasparov, who warned of the dangers of Putinism long before so many others. He is that rare thing: A Russian democrat who is realistic about his country, but remains hopeful for the future. - Anne Applebaum, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Gulag and Iron Curtain

A compelling story of courage... Winter Is Coming presents a picture of the internal forces propelling Russia's descent into aggressive authoritarianism. And if offers a scathing analysis of the contribution of the West to that outcome. - Wall Street Journal

Ferocious and unforgiving... This is a book that should be read by every policymaker dealing with Russia (or any other autocracy) -- John Thornhill - Financial Times

In this punchy polemic, Kasparov reflects on how far the world has gone from the heady "end of history" days of the early 1990s to what some see as the advent of a new Cold War... Kasparov's moral clarity is admirable and informed by personal experience. -- Peter Conradi - Sunday Times

The main target of this brave, trenchant and convincing book is not the thuggish and dangerous regime that misrules Russia, but the cowardly wishful thinking in the West that refuses to stop it... The book ably summarises the many other alarm calls the West has missed... Let us hope that Kasparov's book becomes a bestseller -- Edward Lucas - The Times

We are open

CONTENTS

Week One: - February 18th, 2019 through March 3rd, 2019
Introduction

Prologue

1    The End of the Cold War and the Fall of the USSR

Week Two
2 The Lost Decade
3 The Invisible Wars

Week Three
4 Born in Blood
5 President for Life

Week Four
6 The Search for Putin’s Soul
7 Off the Board, Into the Fire

Week Five
8 Operation Medvedev
9 The Audacity of False Hope
10 War and Appeasement

Conclusion
Acknowledgments
Notes
Index
About the Author

Week Six:

Book as a Whole and Final Thoughts

Week One: - February 18th, 2019 through March 3rd, 2019

Introduction - page ix

Prologue - page 1

1 The End of the Cold War and the Fall of the USSR - page 15

Chapter Overview and Summaries

Introduction

There are two stories behind the current crisis. The first is how Russia moved so quickly from celebrating the end of Communism to electing a KGB officer and then to invading its neighbors.

The second is how the free world helped this to happen, through a combination of apathy, ignorance, and misplaced goodwill. It is critical to figure out what went awry, because even though Putin is now a clear and present danger, Europe and America are still getting it wrong.

The democracies of the world must unite and relearn the lessons of how the Cold War was won before we slide completely into another one.

Prologue

There is no single moment where Russia lost its way and Vladimir Putin, or someone like him, became inevitable.

There was no specific turning point in the West’s dealings with Russia marking the shift from confrontation over human rights to engagement. It was a slow and steady process.

Time and again, the United States and Europe turned a blind eye to the crimes and misdemeanors of Gorbachev, Yeltsin, and Putin in the hope that everything would work out on its own.

US presidents in particular always placed far too much faith in individuals in Russia, instead of supporting the structural and institutional reforms.

Chapter One: The End of the Cold War and the Fall of the USSR

The USSR lost the Cold War, and losing is painful.

This sentiment, feeling like losers, was a consequence of failing to move on from the nation that vanished under our feet. The USSR lost the Cold War, but it was a victory not just for the United States and the West, but for Russians and all Soviet citizens and everyone living behind the Iron Curtain.

We were free to live, to speak, and to think for ourselves.

The real loss came when we failed to uproot the KGB system and failed to put The USSR lost the Cold War, and losing is painful. This sentiment, feeling like losers, was a consequence of failing to move on from the nation that vanished under our feet.

The USSR lost the Cold War, but it was a victory not just for the United States and the West, but for Russians and all Soviet citizens and everyone living behind the Iron Curtain.

We were free to live, to speak, and to think for ourselves. The real loss came when we failed to uproot the KGB system and failed to put misremembered glory days behind us quickly, as most of the European Soviet Bloc succeeded in doing.

This left Russia and other former Soviet states vulnerable to the humiliation myth and to men like Putin eager to exploit it.

Introduction

On August 19, 1991, CNN was providing nonstop live coverage of an attempted coup against Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev. Allied with the KGB, hardliners from inside the disintegrating Communist regime had sequestered Gorbachev at his dacha in Crimea and declared a state of emergency. The global press was full of experts and politicians worried that the coup would mark the sudden end of perestroika, or even the start of a civil war, as tanks rolled into the middle of Moscow.


Gorbachev at the time

Kasparov, Garry. Winter Is Coming (p. ix). PublicAffairs. Kindle Edition.

More:
A bit of History: Moscow August 21 1991 An attempted Coup ends
https://youtu.be/7SU3fXgkvuY
https://youtu.be/tpUsHf8e7yk
https://youtu.be/rLeLYGw0PrU
The Soviet Coup: Day One, August 19th 1991
https://youtu.be/LsF4c06txHM
Collapse of USSR - Three days that shook the world in August 1991.
https://youtu.be/VAPk7z5Yzrw

Discussion Questions:

1. How many members remember August 19th, 1991 and heard or watched the news concerning the coup on radio or television? Were any members in Russia during the coup and what were your feelings at the time? It would be very interesting to hear your views.

2. What are your thoughts on the leadership of Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev before, during and after these troubled times?

3. What does the word perestroika mean to you? Do you have any memories of this period of time; if so what were they? And what feelings did the word or the time period convey?

4. How did Yeltsin appear to carry the day and seize the moment? What kind of a leader was Yeltsin?

5. Be mindful that the coup leaders decided to tell the Russian people that there was a "state of national emergency". In fact, the Russian coup leaders claimed that all constitutional laws were followed and adhered to. What are your thoughts about the coup and what does a coup indicate about a country's future or even current conditions? Even Boris Yeltzin was in danger and yet he managed to climb on top of the tank (a memorable photo of the event).

6. What are your thoughts about Russia in general - do you feel that there is a democratic government in Russia today - why or why not? What are you initial thoughts about Putin and the introduction? What do you hope to learn as you read this book?

Group members reading this book - please introduce yourself and where you are reading the book from - country, etc. We are sorry that the discussion was delayed but it was unavoidable.

Let us know what your initial thoughts are about the book as we begin our reading and discussion. Gorbachev stated in an interview that I posted in message 7 that the Soviet Union was not ever going to be coming back. During the interview, he stated that there is no chance of a revival of the Soviet Union because nobody wants that. Do you believe that this statement is still true?

A book that might be of interest. During the discussion, we will add books to the glossary - so make sure to check that thread out.


Gorbachev in 2017

Gorbachev: His Life and Times

by William Taubman (no photo)

Synopsis:

In the first comprehensive biography of Mikhail Gorbachev, William Taubman shows how a peasant boy clambered to the top of a system designed to keep people like him down, found common ground with America’s arch-conservative president Ronald Reagan, and permitted the USSR and its East European empire to break apart without using force to preserve them.

Drawing on interviews with Gorbachev himself, transcripts and documents from the Russian archives, and interviews with Kremlin aides and adversaries, Taubman’s intensely personal portrait extends to Gorbachev’s remarkable marriage to a woman he deeply loved.

Nuanced and poignant, yet unsparing and honest, this sweeping account has all the amplitude of a great Russian novel.

Awards:

National Book Critics Circle Award Nominee for Biography (2017)

Andrew Carnegie Medal Nominee for Nonfiction (2018)

Here is a video which is worth watching of William Taubman, the author, talking about the 1991 coup, as well as his biography of reformer Mikhail Gorbachev who for all intensive purposes was the last leader of the Soviet Union.

Link: https://www.c-span.org/video/?433793-...

Source: C-Span

Memorable quotes to discuss:


Nikita Khrushchev



What are your thoughts about the following quotes? Do they have relevance to the world at large as well the USA or Russia? Why or why not? Present your thoughts. You can discuss one or more or all of them to make a comment on.

Quote One:

To paraphrase Winston Churchill’s definition of appeasement, we are feeding the crocodiles, hoping they will eat us last.

Kasparov, Garry. Winter Is Coming (p. xii). PublicAffairs. Kindle Edition.

Quote Two

Physical and social insecurity have always been easy targets in fragile democracies, and most dictators rise to power with initial public support.

Throughout history, endless cycles of autocrats and military juntas have been empowered by the people’s call for order and “la mano dura” (hard hand) to rein in the excesses of a wobbly civilian regime.

Somehow people always forget that it’s much easier to install a dictator than to remove one.

Kasparov, Garry. Winter Is Coming (p. xiv). PublicAffairs. Kindle Edition.

Quote Three

The naïve idea was that the free world would use economic and social ties to gradually liberalize authoritarian states.

In practice, the authoritarian states have abused this access and economic interdependency to spread their corruption and fuel repression at home.

Kasparov, Garry. Winter Is Coming (p. xv). PublicAffairs. Kindle Edition.

Quote Four

This generation of Western leaders refuses to admit that evil still exists in this world and that it must be fought on absolute terms, not negotiated with.

It’s clear at the moment that the democracies of the twenty-first century are not ready for this fight. It is still an open question whether or not they can and will make themselves ready.

Kasparov, Garry. Winter Is Coming (pp. xix-xx). PublicAffairs. Kindle Edition.

Quote Five

But evil does not die, just as history does not end. Like a weed, evil can be cut back but never entirely uprooted.

It waits for its chance to spread through the cracks in our vigilance.

It can take root in the fertile soil of our complacency, or even the rocky rubble of the fallen Berlin Wall.

Kasparov, Garry. Winter Is Coming (p. xxii). PublicAffairs. Kindle Edition.

Quote Six:

Dictators only stop when they are stopped, and appeasing Putin with Ukraine will only stoke his appetite for more conquests.

Kasparov, Garry. Winter Is Coming (p. xxiv). PublicAffairs. Kindle Edition.

Quote Seven:

History does not end; it runs in cycles.

The failure to defend Ukraine today is the failure of the Allies to defend Czechoslovakia in 1938.

The world must act now so that Poland in 2015 will not be called on to play the role of Poland in 1939.

Kasparov, Garry. Winter Is Coming (p. xxiv). PublicAffairs. Kindle Edition.

Quote Eight:

The free world’s enemies can be identified by their targets.

They know that if liberal democracy and free market policies succeed, then they are out of business—and so they fight for their very survival.

To meet these attacks we must turn our principles into policies. We must identify and understand what we are fighting for, and fighting against.

We must be willing to defend our values as if our lives depended on them, because they do.

Kasparov, Garry. Winter Is Coming (p. xxiv). PublicAffairs. Kindle Edition.

Quote Nine:

Adolf Hitler did not attack Poland in 1939 because the Allies stood up for Czechoslovakia; they didn’t.

Hitler did not move into the Sudetenland because the world protested vigorously at his Austrian Anschluss, but because the response was so feeble.

Kasparov, Garry. Winter Is Coming (p. xxvi). PublicAffairs. Kindle Edition.

Quote Ten:

In terms of global influence, Russia’s industrial and military power today is no match for that wielded by Nazi Germany. But Putin has one thing Hitler never had: nuclear weapons.

And he is not shy about reminding us of that fact. I forced myself to listen to Putin’s October 2014 Q&A session in Sochi twice because I couldn’t believe he was so casually praising Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev’s terrifying nuclear gamesmanship.

But we should all listen carefully to what Putin says, because he has a track record of following through with his threats when left unchecked.

Kasparov, Garry. Winter Is Coming (pp. xxvi-xxvii). PublicAffairs. Kindle Edition.

Quote Eleven:

Removing the moral component from foreign affairs has been a catastrophe from which it will take a very long time to recover.

Kasparov, Garry. Winter Is Coming (p. xxvii). PublicAffairs. Kindle Edition.


Stalin

A few words from the moderator:

The Introduction was quite a long manifesto.

The author is quite impassioned about his subject matter and the need to protect our democracies from the evils of Vladimir Putin. I cannot agree more with the author considering the debacle of the last election due in part or in large part to Russian interference. This is what they do.

And do it they did in the US as well as with Brexit in the UK. So the proof is out there for what the author is identifying.

It is a given that Vladimir Putin has put an end to the democratic experiment in Russia and is a global threat with his actions.

And if you disagree, of course present your arguments but do not be dismayed if everyone else disagrees with you politely and civilly.
We will discuss all points of view - but please no trolls.

But we want to get into the book itself so that we don't just get hung up with the introduction. We could spend weeks just talking and mulling over the points discussed in this first segment.

But by all means if there are any other quotes or any other topics presented by the author in the introduction that I missed or glossed over in order to save time or move on - by all means bring them up for discussion.

Remember in any discussion at the HBC, your involvement is key. Just reading what I write or post does not make a good discussion - just post and keep posting and get the interactions going. That is what makes a good discussion which is memorable and fruitful.

As now we begin to discuss this man:

Prologue:


In Putin’s Russia the votes of pensioners and veterans had ensured the Kremlin its essential majority in parliament. During a previous election campaign Medvedev and Putin had made a great many promises at meetings with their representatives. But can or did they keep their word and what about reforming the Russian economy - how is that going?

And so the Prologue begins:

The rise and fall of Russian democracy would make for a painfully short book.

It took just eight years for Russia to go from jubilant crowds celebrating the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1992 to the ascendance of former KGB agent Vladimir Putin to the presidency.

Then it took Putin another eight years to corrupt or dismantle nearly every democratic element in the country—balance in the branches of government, fair elections, independent judiciary, a free media, and a civil society that could work with the government instead of living in fear of it.

Uncooperative oligarchs were jailed or exiled and the press quickly learned what could and could not be said.

Putin also consolidated the Russian economy, clamping down on free market reforms and emphasizing the creation of “national champions” in the energy and banking sectors.

Source: Kasparov, Garry. Winter Is Coming (p. 1). PublicAffairs. Kindle Edition.

Discussion Questions:

1. The Prologue is also a very lengthy segment right out of the gate.

What did we learn about Putin and some of the changes that he made arbitrarily?

It is shocking to realize how little time it takes to dismantle the framework of democratic institutions and unseat the balances between the various branches of government or to eliminate fair elections which are a sham now or sway and corrupt an independent judiciary or infer that the media is an enemy of the people and for all intensive purposes install state run TV.

Once again the Russian people ostensibly live in fear and if they do not cooperate, they will first lose their money, then their livelihood, then their freedom and most assuredly face their death through poisoning - as has been the current practice.

What fears do you have about Putin himself and his form of government?

How do you think Putin is working to destabilize the Western world and do you think that he believes that he can do what he wants?

2. How did Putin make certain that he would have a lock on the presidency for the next 12 years and how was Medvedev a willing co-conspirator? What kinds of changes did Putin make? What should or could the world have done to prevent any of this?


Dmitry Anatolyevich Medvedev

3. What are the prosecutor's special interviews that the author had to subject himself to? And do you think he was wise to leave Russia in 2013?

Prologue Continued:



After the Soviet Union crumbled - some odd things happened as well as some understandable ones:

But in Russia, the story was different.

The end of the Cold War presented an opportunity, not just for economic advancement but for a welcoming embrace among the world’s democratic powers.

Even as the Soviet Union crumbled, Russia, by far the largest and most powerful member, kept many of the USSR’s privileges and positions, as well as keeping the world’s largest nuclear arsenal while Ukraine, Belarus, and Kazakhstan were successfully pressured into giving theirs up.

Russia took the Soviet spot on the United Nations Security Council and, despite perpetual unfounded complaints about suffering humiliation at the hands of the victorious West, there was nothing in the way of reparations demanded by the winning side.

In fact, the United States and several other countries provided badly needed loan guarantees and other aid to Russia, directly and via the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Russia was even paid for bringing its troops back from Germany. This was not just charity. Collapse and chaos in the nuclear-armed giant would not have been in anyone’s best interests.

Source: Kasparov, Garry. Winter Is Coming (p. 4). PublicAffairs. Kindle Edition.

Discussion Question:

1. What do you think should have happened when the Soviet Union crumbled? Did the West do what it should have done or not? What else could have been done at that time and wasn't?

2. Why was the Russian security apparatus kept intact? And why were the Russian KGB files off limits? Did you also find it odd that former officials were given tacit promises of financial security and immunity from prosecution in exchange for facilitating the transfer of power? Was that the right thing to do or did it show an undercurrent of corruption still in play? How culpable was Yeltsin? And why do you think he hand-picked Putin to be his successor. We could say that Yeltsin created the problems we have today. Do you agree or disagree? Why or why not?


Yeltsin

More:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/201...
The Collapse of The Soviet Union - A Documentary Film (2006)
https://youtu.be/OYD6ouVHXbo

Some quotes worth discussing in the Prologue:



Quote One: (Have we ever learned that appeasement does not work?)

Despite the attempt to rebrand the method as “engagement,” the smell of appeasement is impossible to mask.

The fundamental lesson of Chamberlain and Daladier going to see Hitler in Munich in 1938 is valid today: giving a dictator what he wants never stops him from wanting more; it convinces him you aren’t strong enough to stop him from taking what he wants.

Otherwise, goes the dictator’s thought process, you would stand up to him from the start.

Source: Kasparov, Garry. Winter Is Coming (p. 9). PublicAffairs. Kindle Edition.

Discussion Question:

1. How has Putin demonstrated that he has no value for human life? What other indications of human rights violations has Putin advanced? Why do you think he has done this?


Vladimir Gusinsky
Media outlets were taken over by forces friendly to Putin and his closest associates. The owner of NTV, Vladimir Gusinsky, spent three days in jail in June 2000 and was forced to give up his company. In fact, in what would become a typical “negotiating method” of the day, he was forced to sign over his company before being allowed to leave jail. He fled to Israel while his channel was appropriated and absorbed into the Kremlin’s portfolio in April 2001, and today, ironically, NTV is probably the dirtiest of the official propaganda stations against some very tough competition in that field.

We begin the discussion of Chapter One:


The Berlin Wall falling, under the gaze of the East German police. Photograph: Sipa Press/Rex Features

The End of the Cold War and the Fall of the USSR

And so the chapter begins:

In the middle of the summer in 1989, I gave a long interview to a magazine that practically personified Western decadence in the Soviet imagination: Playboy.

But it wasn’t just the publisher of my interview that raised eyebrows in the Soviet Union.

Despite the increasing atmosphere of glasnost, openness, between America and the USSR, and the slow loosening of political repression under Mikhail Gorbachev’s perestroika, my outspoken criticism of Soviet society and my praise for America and Americans in particular were something of a scandal.

The fall of the Berlin Wall on November 9 was still five months away and largely unimagined.

A month after that, Gorbachev and President George H. W. Bush would declare that the USSR and the United States were no longer enemies.

But even in this rapidly changing environment my comments sounded close to treason to some in the Kremlin.

PLAYBOY: You sound like an American. Americans always want to be winners.

KASPAROV: This is a very human quality. It proves that Americans are very close to true human nature.

Kasparov, Garry. Winter Is Coming (p. 15). PublicAffairs. Kindle Edition.

Discussion Question:

1. Why were the comments by the author tantamount to being close to treason to some in the Kremlin. They seem harmless enough. What do you think? What would appear to be outspoken criticism of Soviet society?

2. What are your thought's about this quote and about the author's rationale? How did that sync up with the then current socialist ideology?

Quote: " In today’s world it may seem quaint, or else catastrophically oppressive, but socialist ideology and perceptions of morality were very much part of the Cold War arsenal.

When the Soviet sports authorities attacked me for wanting to retain my chess winnings, they condemned not only my disobedience, but my lack of socialist solidarity.

For me to say that my neighbors in Baku should see my keeping the Mercedes I won in Germany as normal, healthy thinking was radical and subversive."

Source: Kasparov, Garry. Winter Is Coming (p. 16). PublicAffairs. Kindle Edition.

More:
http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/ex...

Chapter One - continued:

Let us discuss some of the quotes in this chapter and share ideas about the quotes themselves, the events or people they discuss and your feelings of support for the quote or not and why.

Quote One:

In 1987, Gorbachev said he wanted to build Alexander Dubček’s “socialism with a human face,” to which I responded that Frankenstein’s monster also had a human face.

Communism goes against human nature and can only be sustained by totalitarian repression. Without outside assistance, or massive amounts of natural resources like oil, repression leads to economic stagnation.

Then there is the moral and spiritual stagnation of a society were individual success and excellence are all but forbidden.

Source: Kasparov, Garry. Winter Is Coming (p. 16). PublicAffairs. Kindle Edition.

Quote Two:

It is very difficult to describe life in a Communist state to those who never lived in one.

The human spirit is a resilient creature and tends to adjust to circumstances as best it can so as not to lose all hope. There is also a solidarity in deprivation, which is why stories of the affluent West had such subversive power in the USSR.

It is much harder to maintain stoicism in the face of adversity when you find out your neighbors are doing much better than you are.

That is human nature, the underpinning of free-market consumer capitalism, and why Communism was, and remains, such a perverse and alien thing.

Kasparov, Garry. Winter Is Coming (p. 19). PublicAffairs. Kindle Edition.

Quote Three:

“Gorbachev has succeeded in convincing the West that his is the fight of a decent man for a better future. This is a lie. He is the last leader of the Communist state, trying to save everything he can.”

Source: Kasparov, Garry. Winter Is Coming (p. 23). PublicAffairs. Kindle Edition.

Quote Four

The Baku pogrom led to my only meeting with Gorbachev, in the Kremlin a few days after Lebed’s army entered Baku on January 20. I wanted to talk about the 120 people who had been murdered and the tens of thousands who had been displaced.

What was he going to do about the unfolding military confrontation between Azeris and Armenians? But Gorbachev ignored this line of discussion and kept asking me who should become the new first secretary of the Communist Party in Azerbaijan.

Source: Kasparov, Garry. Winter Is Coming (p. 24). PublicAffairs. Kindle Edition.

Quote Five:

The good news for Gorbachev was that the West spent a long time in denial over what should have been considered fantastic news.

After my disappointing experiences discussing my homeland with American experts, it came as no surprise that President Bush often sounded more alarmed than overjoyed by the prospect of the Soviet Union falling to pieces.

The empire was evil, yes, but it was the evil he and everyone in his administration knew very well. Bush also felt he could rely on Gorbachev, although he was a man backed by the KGB and who had never been elected to anything, over the unknown quantity of the populist and popularly elected Boris Yeltsin.

Kasparov, Garry. Winter Is Coming (p. 27). PublicAffairs. Kindle Edition.

Another book that might be of interest and is on the discussion thread because it is cited in this chapter. Books should be posted on the Glossary thread.

Mortal Games

by Fred Waitzkin

Synopsis:

Games and politics collide in this remarkable look inside the world of genius - a brilliant exploration of obsession, risk and triumph, by the author of Searching for Bobby Fischer. "K-a-r-r-r-p-o-v." Kasparov pronounced the name slowly, rolling the r. "He is a creature of darkness. I'm going to crush him."

Fred Waitzkin established himself as the premier writer about the passionate, quirky world of the chess player with his first book, Searching for Bobby Fischer, which detailed the rollercoaster adventures of the author and his prodigy son in chess wonderland, and which is now the highly acclaimed motion picture.

Now Waitzkin probes deeper, into the tumultuous world of true genius. At the center of Mortal Games is Garry Kasparov, the maverick world chess champion, as he prepares to defend his title in 1990 against his sworn enemy, Anatoly Karpov. Theirs is more than a battle of chess opposites.

Kasparov is tireless in his efforts to bring down the "murderous" Gorbachev, whom he blames for the pogroms against the Armenians in his native Azerbaijan, while Karpov is the Soviets' darling.

While the two slash at each other in games both cracklingly cerebral and brutally physical, politics, bribes and threats swirl around their moves, and it soon becomes apparent that this is a match neither side can afford to lose.

Waitzkin, who obtained unprecedented access into Kasparov's life, provides an astonishing portrait of a brilliant, volcanic man, now exuberant, now plunged into despair, as he performs the balancing act of his life.

In the process, Waitzkin gives us a rare, intimate look at a game played at its highest level, filled with glorious flights of fancy and high-tension drama, and at the very human men and women who inhabit its realm - promoters, fans, family, hustlers, expatriates, entrepreneurs and grandmasters. Mortal Games is a tour de force of reportage.

Another book mentioned in this chapter and the only reason it is posted on the discussion thread:

Anatomy of Fascism

by Robert O. Paxton

Synopsis:

What is fascism? Many authors have proposed definitions, but most fail to move beyond the abstract.

The esteemed historian Robert O. Paxton answers this question for the first time by focusing on the concrete: what the fascists did, rather than what they said.

From the first violent uniformed bands beating up “enemies of the state,” through Mussolini’s rise to power, to Germany’s fascist radicalization in World War II, Paxton shows clearly why fascists came to power in some countries and not others, and explores whether fascism could exist outside the early-twentieth-century European setting in which it emerged.

The Anatomy of Fascism will have a lasting impact on our understanding of modern European history, just as Paxton’s classic Vichy France redefined our vision of World War II.

Based on a lifetime of research, this compelling and important book transforms our knowledge of fascism–“the major political innovation of the twentieth century, and the source of much of its pain.”

Alright members - we are ready for you to begin the discussion and to tackle any aspect of the Introduction, Prologue and/or Chapter One for our selection Winter is Coming.

1. Please introduce yourself very briefly so that members who are discussing the book know who you are. Indicate what country or state location you are from and why this book interests you.

2. Start with the discussion questions above and try to tackle them in order. So many topics - tons to talk about, discuss and debate and kick the cans around. The more the merrier.

3. Please remain on the topics discussed in the Introduction, Prologue and Chapter One and only those pages for the next two weeks.

If you go beyond those pages - then you must post on the glossary thread for the book or place your post in spoilers with a header as to which chapter you are discussing.

We are giving the extended time because the discussion was delayed and we want to make sure that everyone has their books and is ready to begin.

Additionally, there are so many important events, personages, ideas and readings in these first three segments, that we want to make sure that we are off to a fruitful and solid start.

4. So just jump right in.

You have from February 18th through March 3rd to get your book, read and jump into the discussion and please post, post, post.

Great discussions are dependent upon you posting not simply reading what I post only.

We need to hear your thoughts and share ideas and opinions. There are no wrong answers as far as we are concerned in terms of your opinions - so do not be shy.

Week One: - February 18th, 2019 through March 3rd, 2019

Introduction - page ix

Prologue - page 1

1 The End of the Cold War and the Fall of the USSR - page 15

5. After this first assignment period - chapters are assigned every week.

Here is the link for the Discussion Thread:

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Here is the link for the Glossary Thread which is the spoiler thread - if you want to post something that does not deal with the assigned reading or up to where we have assigned in any given week. It is also the place to add urls and links to other information, books, articles which deal with topical areas discussed:

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

6. If you have already gone ahead and/or completed the book due to the delay - you can post your Book as a Whole and Final Thoughts on the Glossary thread. Just a word to the wise - we allow no self promotion so no links to your reviews. Just do a copy and paste and put your thoughts on the glossary thread. We would love to hear your opinions. Post on the glossary thread: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

7. If you want to join the discussion - go to the discussion thread - see you there - https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Welcome all.

Members - you have until March 3rd to get the book and read and discuss all of the above - just the Week One Assignment.

Then we will go on to the next assignment to be done in one week's time.

Join in and discuss Russia, its history, the USSR or former Soviet Union, any of its leaders past or present, any of the events leading up to and including those involving Putin, and of course Putin, himself. The more the merrier.

Week Two Assignment - beginning March 4th

Chapter 2 - The Lost Decade
Chapter 3 - The Invisible Wars

I am waiting for you to introduce yourself and dive in and post - I have my best party outfit on



I am right here waiting - https://youtu.be/S_E2EHVxNAE

Chapter Overviews and Summaries:

Chapter 2 - The Lost Decade

Anti-Communist revolutions and secessionist movements spread across Central and Eastern Europe in 1989, beginning with the Solidarity movement in Poland in April. China's Tiananmen Square massacre occurred. The Yugoslav wars were ignored and the Bush administration was focused on the USSR and the First Gulf War. In 2015, it might have been more difficult to remember how dominant the US economy was in the 1990s - nearly double of Japan's, triple Germany's and thirteen times larger than China's. Clinton intervened in Kosovo. Hidden threats of xenophobia and terror lurk inside and aggressive Russia on the outside.

Chapter 3 - The Invisible Wars

Most European nations are largely still populated by the ethnic groups that have been there for centuries. Soviet propaganda was always expert about "whataboutism" - a term coined to describe how Soviet leaders would respond to criticism of Soviet massacres, forced deportations, and gulags with "What about how you Americans treated the Native Americans and the slaves?" Just another shabby and transparent rhetorical attack of deflection and changing the topic. Putin always focuses on the past sins of others without looking at the current sins of himself and what is going on in Russia today. Solzhenitsyn rightly concluded that the entire Soviet system could only function due to coercion and the thread of imprisonment, as well as the free labor provided by the gulags. Chechnya is a hot bed for revolt and yet the word Chechnya itself would practically be banned from the Russian press soon after Putin took power. Clinton and Europe missed the chance to rein in Russia in 1996 while helping Yeltsin get reelected - the USA should have made aid to Russia conditional on dropping support for the Iranian nuclear program or on ending the massacre in Chechnya. The author writes - If the road to hell is paved with good intentions, compromises on principles are the streetlights.

Remember Bentley is right here waiting - all partied up!

I am waiting for you and I have my best party outfit on



I am right here waiting - https://youtu.be/S_E2EHVxNAE

Chapter Two - The Lost Decade

Chapter Three - The Invisible Wars

We will also be discussing next week:

Week Three
4 Born in Blood
5 President for Life

Chapter Overviews and Summaries: - Chapter Two and Chapter Three were done in message 23

Chapter Four - Born in Blood

There were two wars in Europe in 1999. Kosovo War in Yugoslavia and the other in Chechnya. This second war for all of its ugliness was popular among Russians because it was part of the Russians desire to end the plague of corruption and criminality in cities. The Russians were looking for a tough guy to stand up to the criminals.

Chapter Five - President for Life

Putin refused to debate like Yeltzin and still won with 53.4% of the vote. Putin was cautious about completely demolishing Russian democracy up until Yeltzin's death. Despite Yeltzin's faults - he was a true freedom fighter. Putin, however, is a true dictator. He went after the media when he was criticized. What was good for Putin and his friends was far more important than what was good for Russia and that remains the case today.