Jump to ratings and reviews
Rate this book

We Need to Talk About Putin: Why the West Gets Him Wrong, and How to Get Him Right

Rate this book
A The Times best book of 2019

'In fewer than 150 pithy pages, Galeotti sketches a bleak, but convincing picture of the man in the Kremlin and the political system that he dominates' - The Times

Meet the world's most dangerous man. Or is he?

Who is the real Vladimir Putin? What does he want? And what will he do next?

Despite the millions of words written on Putin's Russia, the West still fails to truly understand one of the world's most powerful politicians, whose influence spans the globe and whose networks of power reach into the very heart of our daily lives.

In this essential primer, Professor Mark Galeotti uncovers the man behind the myth, addressing the key misperceptions of Putin and explaining how we can decipher his motivations and next moves. From Putin’s early life in the KGB and his real relationship with the USA to his vision for the future of Russia – and the world – Galeotti draws on new Russian sources and explosive unpublished accounts to give unparalleled insight into the man at the heart of global politics.

160 pages, ebook

First published February 1, 2019

Loading interface...
Loading interface...

About the author

Mark Galeotti

63 books144 followers

Ratings & Reviews

What do you think?
Rate this book

Friends & Following

Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!

Community Reviews

5 stars
427 (21%)
4 stars
904 (44%)
3 stars
565 (28%)
2 stars
105 (5%)
1 star
15 (<1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 176 reviews
Profile Image for Baba.
3,733 reviews1,137 followers
June 11, 2022
A concise and almost perfect introduction to Putin and 21 st century Russia. Academician and prolific writer on Russia, Mark Galeotti shares a well researched (from his own experiences, including conversations and formal interviews) look at the man, and the country, away from the Western lens, and also away from what is put out by the Kremlin.

Is Putin and Russia behind Trump's ascendance and Brexit? What are his plans for The Crimea, for the Ukraine overall and for Syria? Does Russia have a plan, a clear goal? Is Putin really that popular amongst Russians? All these questions and many more are looked at. I found this book enlightening on so many points, but especially how it exposes the multiple political, military and capitalist fiefdoms that operate unilaterally by interpreting vague policy assertions from Putin, and how they sometimes get it completely wrong. A must read for anyone remotely interested in Russia, Putin or geopolitics. I wish it was a bit more detailed, and a lot longer, but then maybe it wouldn't have worked so well? 8 out of 12.

2020 read
Profile Image for Jovi Ene.
Author 2 books224 followers
April 20, 2021
Cred că sunt la a treia carte din ultima perioadă care discută și dezbate subiectul Putin și toate aceste cărți ajung la aproximativ aceleași concluzii în privința acestui om pe care, se pare, Occidentul îl înțelege prea puțin. (Autor este, de data aceasta, Mark Galeotti, istoric și expert în istoria modernă, politica și securitatea Rusiei.)
Așadar, pe scurt (pentru că voi reveni): Putin joacă mereu la cacealma, nefiind un jucător de șah, ci un judocan care se folosește de slăbiciunile adversarului; tocmai de aceea este greu să-i anticipăm mișcările, pentru că nici el nu știu ce o să facă în următorul pas; îi punem mereu în cârcă trecutul kaghebist, dar adevărul este că a fost un ofițer de securitate fără realizări; nu gândește în termeni comuniști, ci are o gândire de secol 19 - vrea ca Rusia să fie o mare putere și să-și împartă sferele de influență cu Occidentul; atuul său vine din încrengătura creată în jurul său, de bogătași și politicieni, nu din curaj, inspirație sau filosofie politică. Etc. Etc.
O carte scurtă, dar plină de miez.
Profile Image for Sadie.
873 reviews225 followers
December 4, 2019
This is a short and quite entertaining book on Putin, what his world looks and mind works like. It's not a Putin-apologist piece - it does tackle various biases we (as in "the west") may have regarding Putin, but instead of simply explaining them away, it offers new, maybe equally disturbing perspectives. It's a case of "it may not be the kind of bad you think it is, it might be another kind of bad - or worse".

To achieve this, author and Russia expert Mark Galeotti presents various few chapters each focussing on a "special" Putin (mis)conception, for example: Yes, he was KGB, "but not as you know it". Or: Putin doesn't want to revive neither the USSR nor tzarism, he just wants to... well, you know, something like make Russia great again. And so on. One main thing I take home from this is that Putin doesn't have the grand masterplan to destroy all things free and liberal - he rather uses whatever method is best to achieve his general goals (people listening to him, Russia and himself being respected and such).

The book is too short and superficial to give any real deep insights, but it's a good first introdution and anything but a dry essay.
Profile Image for Sandu MIHAI.
42 reviews4 followers
March 28, 2022
Prin comparație cu alte lucrări pe subiectul „Putin”, Mark Galeotti pare a se apropia cel mai mult de realitatea numită putinism, chiar dacă, sunt convins, invazia Ucrainei l-a luat prin surprindere. Cartea ne oferă totuși informații relevante. Având în vedere dimensiunile relativ reduse, sunt punctate aspecte esențiale legate de viața și mai ales de modul de conducere impus de acest fost ofițer KGB în Rusia.

Sistemul P-C-R (Pile-Relații-Cunoștințe) (re)instaurat de Putin, un sistem binecunoscut est-europenilor, în care devotamentul față de șef este moneda forte a funcționării sociale, este bine punctat de autor. Este subliniată (e drept, succint) evoluția profesională a lui Putin, dar este mai bine reliefat modul de creare și funcționare a verticalei puterii în Rusia contemporană: o structură de tip mafiot, în care capo di tutti i capi tronează peste alți mici dictatori, intitulați oligarhi, cei care și-au împărțit diversele domenii economice ale țării. Ei taie și spânzură pe aceste „domenii”, cu o singură condiție: să-i fie devotați marelui șef...

Întregul recenzumat: aici
Profile Image for Irina.
84 reviews16 followers
June 22, 2019
"The French poet and essayist Charles Baudelaire once wrote 'the cleverest ruse of the devil is to persuade you he does not exist'; perhaps Putin's cleverest ruse is to persuade you that he is behind everything."

I think this is the best way to sum up not only this book, but Putin and Russia too.
March 6, 2022
A brief introduction into Putin's world. A story that shows how he is a human and not a simple machine, how he is not as smart as he would want the world to see. A short, easy to read novel.
13 reviews
February 14, 2021
Title should be “How everyone gets him wrong except me”.

A couple of interesting nuggets but otherwise uninformative. Author comes off as an arrogant know-it-all.
Profile Image for Moritz Mueller-Freitag.
81 reviews13 followers
April 20, 2022
One of the prevailing clichés about Putin is that he is a master strategist, carefully calculating his every move, always one step ahead of the West. The reality is very different, writes Mark Galeotti: “In geopolitics as in judo, Putin is an opportunist. He has a sense of what constitutes a win, but no predetermined path towards it. He relies on quickly seizing any advantage he sees, rather than on a careful strategy… This helps explain why we are so often unable to predict Putin’s moves in advance – he himself doesn’t know what he’ll do next.”

The fact that Putin is a judoka, rather than a chess grandmaster, is also reflected in his style of government. Galeotti describes it as an “adhocracy”⁠—a diffuse and informal system defined less by top-down commands than by bottom-up opportunism. Putin may set the overall tone and define broad objectives, but he very rarely gives direct instructions as to what he expects to be done. Instead, everything is based on unspoken rules and understandings, known as⁠ ponyatiye in Russian criminal jargon. Putin is essentially presiding over an army of smaller judokas, or “policy entrepreneurs,” who are constantly cooking up crazy schemes to please the boss:

“In some ways the system works in the same way as the start-up economy: lots of people with ideas – some good, some bad, some already being tried on a small scale and others that exist purely in their creators’ imaginations – all try to interest the one big investor in the Kremlin. Trying to predict what ideas will come out of this process based on Putin’s character is a completely futile task.

Instead, Putin’s state generally responds to opportunities. A British prime minister calls for a referendum on leaving the European Union; American Democratic Party officials practise poor computer security; people in the West begin to lose faith in their political systems and elites; opaque financial structures allow ‘dark money’ to distort economies and corrupt politics; social media bypasses the traditional press. Russia created none of these opportunities, but has demonstrably tried to exploit them. In effect, we in the West define what Putin’s state does to us, while he is simply taking advantage of the failures, broken promises and stress points in our systems.”

This approach to statecraft has generated a tremendous amount of tactical flexibility and initiative, but at the cost of duplication and corrosive competition. One example of such unhealthy rivalry is the hydra-headed monster of Russia’s intelligence services, consisting of the FSB, the SVR, the GRU, and the FSO. Galeotti notes that the existence of four overlapping spy agencies has created “a vicious cycle of escalating claims and conspiracy theories, as the various services compete for the boss’s attention with ever-more-lurid allegations. When Putin claims that the West is trying to undermine him, that Ukraine is run by neo-Nazis or that a secret ‘deep state’ conspiracy dominates Washington, is he just posturing, or is he in fact repeating eye-catching nonsense from intelligence briefings that aim to enthral rather than educate him?”

That last bit might hold some important clues about Putin’s botched invasion of Ukraine. And it begs a very interesting question: “While Putin certainly controls Russia’s intelligence agencies, how far do they control or at least influence him in return, through the picture of the world they paint?”
Profile Image for Bill.
594 reviews7 followers
June 25, 2021
Disappointed in this book. It feels like there is more opinion here than facts. Galeotti tries to create causation based on biased sources. Not a good feel into who the real Putin is.
Profile Image for Mark Hebwood.
Author 1 book96 followers
November 5, 2023
Well, this was certainly an interesting book, but in the end I wonder what I trust myself to take away from it.

The book is an easy read and feels like a collection of chatty essays on aspects of Putin's personality as a person and politician. As a former researcher at the Institute of International Relations Prague and visiting professor at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations, Galeotti has intimate knowledge of Russia and Putin's politics, and access to Kremlin insiders without being himself one.

And that is great, and most of the chapters in the book reveal angles and interpretations that would be difficult to develop from daily news reports in the media alone. But the biggest issue I had with the book is its publication date. Penguin published it first in 2019, but must have felt that Putin's current notoriety warranted a re-issue in 2022. However, rather than re-evaluating some of the observations he made three years prior in the cold light of the Ukraine war that we are seeing unfold today, Mark chose to republish his original thoughts with a short chapter of a few pages stuck on at the end. He stylised this chapter as a "coda" and clearly designed it as a vehicle to bring his thoughts up to date, and make them relevant. But as this chapter is the only place in the book where we are treated to observations on Putin's current activities, most of the book feels oddly dated, and some of his thoughts do not quite seem to have passed the test of time.

So in chapter 11, which deals with the question whether Putin may feel that he acquired enough of a legacy for him to call it a day, and by extension discusses the question how the West should relate to him, we are treated to this verdict: "Containing the harm Russia can do to us and minimising his [Putin's] opportunities for mischief is probably the best we can hope for, however depressing and unambitious that may sound" [p140]. This observation rings hollow in my ears, seeing the ongoing destruction of the Ukraine every day on the news. I am even less convinced by Mark's conclusion, offered on the same page, that "Russia is slowly moving towards Europe and European values, as it works its way through the traumas resulting from the end of empire".

I do not believe these verdicts can stand in light of Russia's war in Ukraine. And if Mark was perhaps too optimistic about this in 2019, what else might he have misjudged? In his coda, we read that "Putin's system may well survive as long as Putin himself remains in the Kremlin" [p143], a statement that feels disappointingly obvious, all the more so as it is the concluding observation in the chapter designed to update Mark's historical perspective of 2019.

So, in the end, I still think this book is worth reading. But I do not feel that it offers much of substance, it is better enjoyed as flavouring of a view the reader may already have formed before reading the book.
Profile Image for Alexandru.
309 reviews32 followers
February 4, 2022
A short but insightful book about Putin's regime and his way of thinking.
Profile Image for Denis Mačor.
226 reviews44 followers
March 2, 2022
Exkurz do prostredia infikovaného Putinovou predstavou o Rusku. Toto prostredie je šedivé, neexistuje v ňom priateľstvo a bezprostredné okolie funguje na báze predstáv o tom, čo sa od nich očakáva. Neistota, patologický strach, ale taktiež veľká nepredvídavosť v konaní. Mark Galeotti strávil v tomto prostredí dostatočne dlhý čas na to, aby ponúkol stručný, ale komplexný obraz o Putinovi, ktorý je nebezpečný, ale zďaleka nie nezraniteľný.
Profile Image for joe.
60 reviews1 follower
April 28, 2022
Turns out he really is a boring little prick.
Profile Image for Peter Tkačenko.
Author 19 books197 followers
January 29, 2019
Let's call this a brief introduction into modern Russia. The book challenges the main myths regarding Putin and/or Russia, but due to lack of volume fails to bring deeper insights. Still, it will give you to get a basic grasp of what is going on within the walls of Kremlin and around them. If you read Zygar, don't bother.
Profile Image for Suciu Sebastian.
18 reviews2 followers
September 16, 2023
Bănuiesc că s-a vrut de la început un scurt ghid despre Putin (ca persoană dar și ca ,personalitate'), pentru cei mai puțin familiarizați cu subiectul. Dacă acesta e scopul, atunci autorul l-a atins. Pentru cei care au aprofundat anterior subiectul, cartea poate părea însă o pierdere de vreme, pentru că aproape nu oferă detalii noi sau inedite.

Principalele idei, așa cum le-am perceput eu:

1. Președintele Putin întruchipează dorințele și fricile unui întreg popor, de aceea a și reușit să se mențină la putere pentru atât de mult timp (25 de ani).

2. Putin este loial celor care îi sunt loiali. Face, însă, o distincție clară între cercul intim și simpli ,,supuși" sau colaboratori. De asemenea face o diferență crucială între dușman și trădător.

3. Spre deosebire de multe alte personaje din politica rusească, V.P. NU este un extremist. Cunoaște istoria și parțial filosofia, însă nu face din acestea un scop în sine, ci un instrument. E capabil să mintă și/ sau să răstălmăcească vorbele proprii după cum îi pică bine cartea politică.

4. Putin nu vrea să refacă URSS. Este mai degrabă un nostalgic față de frica și respectul pe care le avea cândva Vestul față de Rusia, și nu neaparat fața de ideea de imperiu.

5. El crede că gândeste în cheia unui spion (fiind fost kgb-ist), și deși își ia informațiile de la principalele servicii de securitate rusești, nu a fost niciodată unul veritabil. Putin este mai degrabă un birocrat extrem de talentat, capabil să țeasă intrigi și relații acolo unde este necesar.

5. Se gândește, poate, la pensionare. El i-a asigurat securitatea personală fostului președinte Elțin. Dar lui cine îi va asigura acest lucru?
Profile Image for Inês Lucas (Só Mais Uma Página).
373 reviews49 followers
March 10, 2022
Não chega a ser um livro, lê-se mais como um artigo extenso. Bom para termos alguma noção de quem é o presidente da Rússia mas com pouca informação concreta, achei que fosse mais explicativo e aprofundasse mais alguns pormenores. Ficou muito por contar mas lê-se muito rápido, tem apenas 100 páginas.
Profile Image for Ami.
74 reviews20 followers
February 25, 2019
Here's a funny joke Galeotti collected from Russia, in which Stalin appears to Putin in a dream and asks him whether he can be of any assistance (Stalin seems to have improved a lot post-mortem):

Putin replies, 'Why is everything here so bad? What should I do?
'Execute the entire government and paint the Kremlin blue.'
'Why blue?' replies a perplexed Putin.
'I had a feeling you would only want to discuss the second part.'


It summarizes the current situation pretty well, I think.
Profile Image for Rosa.
265 reviews198 followers
May 18, 2023
This both humanized Putin and reiterated any vilification of him I've seen in the media, amazing that he is both! I think anyone mildly interested in Putin / current Russian politics should pick this up. It's a short (almost) insider-scoop on Russia, super informative, and an easy read. The second half reads far more interestingly than the first so do give it 60 pages before putting it down.
Profile Image for Paul Cooke.
95 reviews2 followers
February 8, 2022
read between every line

If this guy isn't being paid by the media in the West, this is his application form for the role. Annoyed that I gave the guy money to read his propaganda, but there are some interesting insights to be had, when you know how to read pamphleteer.
30 reviews6 followers
Read
February 21, 2022
This was a good day to finish this book. Putin just tonight recognized Donbas as an independent state raising the stakes immensely.

It offers an extremely readable and short tour of some of the myths and facts of Putin.

It sets out some of the misconcetions that have arisen. Putin is not a great strategist rather a serial disrupter attempting to force recognition of Russia's status as a great power which is still lacking despite 2 decades of rule.

Putin is both popular and unpopular. I liked his explanation of this paradox.

The real animating impulse of putin is a abborance of national disorder, national weakness and decay. The insecurity over Russias abject fall in prestige and relevance since the 1990s is the driving force behind putin's outlook says this book.

Putin is fed a diet of misleading information which only worsens the problem of compounding his preexisting attitudes towards American power and hypocrisy. He despises traitors and there are power feuds among the corrupt agencies and officials inside his country which damages the governments capacity for effective government leaving russian citizens unhappy and pushing putin into distractions and further autocratic measures.

While the book would have benefited from sourcing some of the claims it makes are just asserted, I found it an interesting and quick guide to Putin and his obsessive revanchist nationalist worldview.

"It had a terminal disease without a cure- a paralysis of power" - Vladimir Putin on the USSR and its fall.
Profile Image for Jay Cresva.
98 reviews19 followers
July 4, 2020
I'm not sure whether to believe the author's version of Putin. He has lived through a lot. The post-WWII fears, cold war era paranoia and the old boy's club - the age of mutual understandings that changed regimes. He will always distrust the west, favor his own little group, play games with the rest. Anything to degrade the value of the west and what it stands for..even if he is not directly involved - someone else will do it for him because of the unmentioned understanding that comes with belonging to an exclusive club. The book kind of goes against that. Author portrays him as not above being toppled by someone else. Where I do agree with the author is that if you want to play 'nice' with him and Russia and be on his good side - know how to play political Judo. He will respect anyone who speaks his (heart's) language.
Profile Image for Michael Macdonald.
373 reviews12 followers
May 26, 2019
Interesting introduction to Russian politics where Galeotti summarises his vast expertise in a concise and entertaining manner. Disproving propaganda about a malign genius winning elections for his friends, this excellent study shows the complexity behind modern Russia and how its politics really works.
50 reviews
June 24, 2019
It's a good book that gives a good overview of the author's view on Russia's Putin. The book admits it lacks a good academic rigor with a lot of references but this does make it an easy read. My only complaint really is that it's a bit short and doesn't really go into the details that such a topic deserves.
July 8, 2019
Op afstand is Poetin voor velen een sfinx. Galeotti probeert Poetins karakter te ontleden en zijn drijfveren zichtbaar te maken, ook in zijn interactie met het Westen. Het zwart-beeld krijgt er grijstinten door.
Profile Image for Dean MacAllister.
Author 5 books5 followers
June 27, 2020
This is a light and entertaining read, but I wouldn't quote anything you read inside it. The best part is on page 6, where he recommends better books written on the subject. Less of a short biography than a long opinion piece. Nice cover though.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 176 reviews

Can't find what you're looking for?

Get help and learn more about the design.