Riding the Tiger: Vladimir Putin's Russia and Uses of War

In Riding the Tiger, Leon Aron, an acclaimed Russian studies scholar and a Moscow native who was sanctioned by President Vladimir Putin’s regime, chronicles the transformation of Russian politics and society under Putin. Through hundreds of Russian-language sources, Dr. Aron shows how Putin uses militarist propaganda and sanitized revisionist images of World War II, Stalin, and the Soviet Union to forge a nationalist and loyal core of his regime’s support. And the “new Russia” suddenly looks a lot like the old USSR.Dr. Aron’s bold, expert analysis of Russian political culture under Putin helps us better understand Russia’s revanchist tendencies, its invasion of Ukraine, and the perilous road ahead. Read more