The stunning story of Russia's slide back into a dictatorship—and how the West is now paying the price for allowing it to happen.The ascension of Vladimir Putin—a former lieutenant colonel of the KGB—to the presidency of Russia in 1999 was a strong signal that the country was headed away from democracy. Yet in the intervening years—as America and the world's other leading powers have continued to appease him—Putin has grown not only into a dictator but an internationalthreat. With his vast resources and nuclear arsenal; Putin is at the center of a worldwide assault on political liberty and the modern world order.For Garry Kasparov; none of this is news. He has been a vocal critic of Putin for over a decade; even leading the pro-democracy opposition to him in the farcical 2008 presidential election. Yet years of seeing his Cassandra-like prophecies about Putin's intentions fulfilled have left Kasparov with a darker truth: Putin's Russia; like ISIS or Al Qaeda; defines itself in opposition to the free countries of the world.As Putin has grown ever more powerful; the threat he poses has grown from local to regional and finally to global. In this urgent book; Kasparov shows that the collapse of the Soviet Union was not an endpoint—only a change of seasons; as the Cold War melted into a new spring. But now; after years of complacency and poor judgment; winter is once again upon us.Argued with the force of Kasparov's world-class intelligence; conviction; and hopes for his home country; Winter Is Coming reveals Putin for what he is: an existential danger hiding in plain sight.
#1399648 in Books 2016-03-01Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 8.40 x .40 x 5.30l; .0 #File Name: 1608465357152 pages
Review
0 of 1 people found the following review helpful. Five StarsBy CustomerAwesome book. Open your eyes to the many women in the world0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. organizationBy Bartok KinskiI've travelled throughout the world; as a witness at the attempt at organization where people are so poor and downtrodden. Latin America is highly "anti-union". Merely any attempt brings down murder; intimidation and blacklisting upon workers. This book helps add clarity to why people; especial; women; organize.7 of 9 people found the following review helpful. Electrical BANANERASBy Kevin KillianAt first I found myself a little bored reading BANANERAS; Dana Frank's total reimagination of the labor union as the engine of women's liberation in first Honduras then elsewhere south of the border; but then the sweep of her narrative began to carry me away. Not liking bananas myself; I had somehow merely lived my whole life without ever inquiring about the women who picked and packed them. Who were these women? How have they eked out meaningful existences desite isolation and backbreaking labor? How do they change history with solidarity and an unspoken feminism? For; as Dr. Frank reveals wryly; the Latin American bananeras recoil from the word "feminism" itself; treating it as though it had no meaning nor place in the vocabulary of the modern radical worker. In a way; Frank's book is the story about how a word lives even when it is judged irrelevant and in consequence unspoken.Richly researeched; the new BANANERAS makes manifest in rich ways the geometrical growth of the new labor unions powered by women's work (though some of the locals employ Latins of several genders). Frank was there when the women met and organized; she attended some of the furit packers' conferences and showed how uneducated women managed to cope with; then translate for the benefit of others; both absent and present; hifalutin technical and political concepts such as transnational trade agreements. She showed what happens when one woman's isolation showly begins to transform; like the shards of a broken flower pot; into a multifaceted; yet striking new mosaic of terra cotta. She brings her characters to life with simple pen strokes; like Colette. Here she is; for example; introducing us to Selfa Sandoval; a Guatemalan fruit worker: "Selfa is a laughing; energetic; tough cookie; who remains powerful in her union because she works hard and fellow rank-and-file members know it." Not only do we see Sandoval herself; but we see her in context of a group of shadowy; but respectful; union members in the general population.Friends who have studied with Dr. Frank; in the seaside town of Santa Cruz perhaps two hours south of here; have talked about her work in history as a three-pronged trident; like Neptune; ready to strike at a single second. One fork shows us that; there are no Americans; there are only "Americans." Another looks for the hope of successful social movements. And a third; and the sharpest of all; is her brain.
