How have Vladimir Putin’s imperial ambitions and aggressive fantasies been able to secure majority support within Russian society? Why are Russians – including those abroad – so pro-war, and why does the officially propagated hatred of Ukrainians, Americans, and Europeans fall on such fertile ground?
In this book, Andrey Gurkov, a Moscow-born Russian journalist now living in Germany, explores the historical, cultural, political, and mass-psychological factors behind this phenomenon. He also warns urgently against the illusory expectation that the former relations between Europe and Russia could ever be restored after the Ukraine war. Russian society no longer sees itself as part of the European community of values – Europe has become the enemy.
Andrey Gurkov’s view of his homeland is both analytical and unsparing.
“Europeans must not repeat the mistake of carelessly overlooking and underestimating the latent aggressive vision of Greater Russia that Putinism has unleashed and fueled.” - Andrey Gurkov
