First published 2025
Alexander Vindman examines how six consecutive US administrations from both political parties created policies that strengthened Russian aggression in Eastern Europe. The national security expert argues that American leaders fell into predictable traps by focusing on quick fixes rather than long term strategy. Their approach fed directly into Russia's historical narrative of regional dominance. Vindman draws on direct conversations with Washington officials and international policymakers to show how Western indecision paved the way for Putin's brutal campaigns in Ukraine. He demonstrates that the full scale invasion could have been predicted years earlier. The book proposes replacing short sighted realism with a framework built on democratic values and international law. Vindman shows readers how containing Russian imperialism requires abandoning the failed methods that made the current crisis inevitable.
Genres: history, international-relations, political-science, politics, non-fiction, 21st-century, current-affairs, american-history
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: historical-analysis, informed-perspective
Setting: Eastern Europe, Ukraine, Washington
Period: 21st Century
304 pages · Hardcover · PublicAffairs