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Mr. Putin: Operative in the Kremlin New and expanded edi edition by Hill, Fiona, Gaddy, Clifford G. (2015) Paperback
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About the author
Fiona Hill
9 books318 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
Fiona Hill is director of the Center on the United States and Europe, and senior fellow in the Foreign Policy program at the Brookings Institution.
Fiona Hill is director of the Center on the United States and Europe, and senior fellow in the Foreign Policy program at the Brookings Institution.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
May 19, 2025
7/10
While the text is far from exciting or thrilling in anyway, Fiona Hill’s hermeneutic of the autocratic and enigmatic Putin excels in painting an approximation of his framing of the world and how it has influenced his decision making.
That initial descriptor may leave some to be desired, a big reason why it’s a mere approximation is because so much of his persona and stories are curated and incredibly difficult to verify, not to mention what we have left to analyze is rather small in sample size. With that in mind, I think the book exceeds at identifying different hats that Putin likes to wear (Statist, Free-Marketeer, History Man, Survivalist, Case Officer, Environmentalist etc.) and contextualizing them with selected stories from his past that are used to add “validity” to the figure being presented to the public.
One area that the text did more information than expected had to be detailing his experience within the KGB. I’ve read about it in his pseudo-autobiographical interview (Ot pervogo litsa) but most of what he speaks on is understandably deliberate and selective. I think this more removed perspective offered by “Operative in the Kremlin” colors the formative experience of being stationed in Dresden during the collapse of East Germany and how that would later influence his response to internal protests as well as the development of his sceptic view of the West.
Along with this, one of the more surprising details drawn out by Hill is the impact of a seemingly minute Operations Management text book and how it has influenced his acting on the geopolitical stage with its emphasis on contingency planning and risk management, showcased by the economic policies enlisted by his financier ombudsman in Alexey Kudrin that focused on the down payment of foreign debts as well as the stockpiling of both financial and resource reserves to stabilize the state.
While details like that provide more color to his process, some things like how he even ended up in Moscow (he was an unpopular and failing Deputy Mayor in St. Petersburg prior to this) are a mystery even after reading “Operative in the Kremlin.” After finishing though, I’ve come away thinking that it gives him more resonance with the population that endured the post-Soviet collapse and the chaos and upheaval that ensued. I think that people identify with the “scrappy-outsider” persona that gets presented with his mysterious arrival to the vessel of the State and perhaps that’s why Yeltsin chose him as his successor.
In all, what this book makes clear is that Putin is intent on asserting Russia’s status as a polar, sovereign, major world power and will use any and every tool at his disposal to see it through. Because of this, he is a dangerous player on the world stage, and misunderstanding Vladimir’s strengths and weaknesses makes him even more dangerous. The text highlights how world leaders (primarily Western) routinely underestimate his knack and obsession for strategic planning while overestimating how much he understands the values, ideals, and goals of peers and rivals around the world.
Although this was published in 2014, many of the sentiments proposed by Hill still ring true, but the text is not necessarily prophetic towards any overarching conclusion of Putin or The Russian Federation. However, it provides a useful framework for analyzing not only the titular character of the book but also the people of his “one-boy” network such as Sergey Lavrov, Dmitry Medvedev, and Viktor Zubkov among others.
While the text is far from exciting or thrilling in anyway, Fiona Hill’s hermeneutic of the autocratic and enigmatic Putin excels in painting an approximation of his framing of the world and how it has influenced his decision making.
That initial descriptor may leave some to be desired, a big reason why it’s a mere approximation is because so much of his persona and stories are curated and incredibly difficult to verify, not to mention what we have left to analyze is rather small in sample size. With that in mind, I think the book exceeds at identifying different hats that Putin likes to wear (Statist, Free-Marketeer, History Man, Survivalist, Case Officer, Environmentalist etc.) and contextualizing them with selected stories from his past that are used to add “validity” to the figure being presented to the public.
One area that the text did more information than expected had to be detailing his experience within the KGB. I’ve read about it in his pseudo-autobiographical interview (Ot pervogo litsa) but most of what he speaks on is understandably deliberate and selective. I think this more removed perspective offered by “Operative in the Kremlin” colors the formative experience of being stationed in Dresden during the collapse of East Germany and how that would later influence his response to internal protests as well as the development of his sceptic view of the West.
Along with this, one of the more surprising details drawn out by Hill is the impact of a seemingly minute Operations Management text book and how it has influenced his acting on the geopolitical stage with its emphasis on contingency planning and risk management, showcased by the economic policies enlisted by his financier ombudsman in Alexey Kudrin that focused on the down payment of foreign debts as well as the stockpiling of both financial and resource reserves to stabilize the state.
While details like that provide more color to his process, some things like how he even ended up in Moscow (he was an unpopular and failing Deputy Mayor in St. Petersburg prior to this) are a mystery even after reading “Operative in the Kremlin.” After finishing though, I’ve come away thinking that it gives him more resonance with the population that endured the post-Soviet collapse and the chaos and upheaval that ensued. I think that people identify with the “scrappy-outsider” persona that gets presented with his mysterious arrival to the vessel of the State and perhaps that’s why Yeltsin chose him as his successor.
In all, what this book makes clear is that Putin is intent on asserting Russia’s status as a polar, sovereign, major world power and will use any and every tool at his disposal to see it through. Because of this, he is a dangerous player on the world stage, and misunderstanding Vladimir’s strengths and weaknesses makes him even more dangerous. The text highlights how world leaders (primarily Western) routinely underestimate his knack and obsession for strategic planning while overestimating how much he understands the values, ideals, and goals of peers and rivals around the world.
Although this was published in 2014, many of the sentiments proposed by Hill still ring true, but the text is not necessarily prophetic towards any overarching conclusion of Putin or The Russian Federation. However, it provides a useful framework for analyzing not only the titular character of the book but also the people of his “one-boy” network such as Sergey Lavrov, Dmitry Medvedev, and Viktor Zubkov among others.
September 16, 2025
Although some of the analysis is out of date following 2022, this is still probably the best Western assessment of Vladimir Putin as a character. It's well-organized and the predictions are generally correct for Russian actions moving forward.
February 27, 2025
Very interesting look at Russia and its one and future ruler.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews