The new nobility
Subtitle: the rebirth of the Russian security state
By: Andrei Soldatov and Irina Borogan
Contributors: Borogan, I. (Irina)
Edition: 1st ed.
Publisher: PublicAffairs
Published: 2010
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 320
ISBN-13: 9781586488024
Description: In The New Nobility, two courageous Russian investigative journalists open up the closed and murky world of the Russian Federal Security Service. While Vladimir Putin has been president and prime minister of Russia, the Kremlin has deployed the security services to intimidate the political opposition, reassert the power of the state, and carry out assassinations overseas. At the same time, its agents and spies were put beyond public accountability and blessed with the prestige, benefits, and legitimacy lost since the Soviet collapse. The security services have played a central and often mysterious role at key turning points in Russia during these tumultuous years: from the Moscow apartment house bombings and theater siege, to the war in Chechnya and the Beslan massacre. The security services are not all-powerful; they have made clumsy and sometimes catastrophic blunders. But what is clear is that after the chaotic 1990s, when they were sidelined, they have made a remarkable return to power, abetted by their most famous alumnus, Putin.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: pt. 1. The FSB regains power; title: KGB to FSB structure; title: FSB in power, active reserve; title: Spymania; title: Novikov and politics; title: Extremism and surveillance; title: Dacha plots for free; title: Sport and dynamo; title: Symbols and icons; title: PR and movies; title: Underground Michurinsky; title: Lefortovo; title: pt. 2. Response to terrorism; title: Nord-Ost; title: Besland; title: Accountability; title: Extrajudicial killings; title: pt. 3. Activity abroad; title: Assassinations abroad; title: FSB intelligence abroad; title: Hackers.