From Cold War to Hot Peace: An American Ambassador in Putin’s Russia

Michael McFaul was an ambassador to Russia during the Obama Administration. His new memoir, From Cold War to Hot Peace is about his time serving as an ambassador. The book has a sizable portion dedicated to the U.S-Russian relations from Perestroika to the annexation of Crimea and Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential elections. He writes about his jubilation about Perestroika and how he thought that, finally, the Russian people will live free of tyranny and oppression. However, as time went on, and Putin became president in 2000, his jubilation turned into terror. He saw first hand how Putin’s opponents were repressed. He also describes how Russia opened a criminal investigation against him.

All in all, Michael McFaul paints a pretty exhaustive picture of the U.S.-Russian relations. From Cold War to Hot Peace should be required reading for international relations students as well as average American citizens concerned with today’s state of affairs.