Winter Is Coming: Why Vladimir Putin and the Enemies of the Free World Must Be Stopped Paperback – November 8, 2016

Garry Kasparov is world-renowned for his genius level-intellect, brought to the forefront when he became the world's youngest chess grandmaster during the 1980s. During that time, he also displayed signs of political activism, making statements that shocked his Soviet overlords.Whether or not he knew that to be foreshadowing for his later life remains to be questioned, but as Kasparov transitioned from chess grandmaster to political activist, one topic slowly formed at the forefront of his mind: the danger that Vladimir Putin poses to the world.In WINTER IS COMING, Kasparov makes it clear that he has no political biases towards American partisans, letting loose with both barrels on both Republican and Democratic politicians, as well as offering sparing praise to both. The crux of his argument is that the United States and Europe should have pushed the pace, held the Soviet Communist Party accountable for the atrocities it committed, and integrated morality and human rights into their foreign policy platform.In that regard, he is particularly scathing of President Barack Obama's treatment of Putin, attempting to work kindly with Putin up until the 2014 invasion of Crimea and Donbass, and even after that invasion, not going far enough to punish Putin for his actions.But again, Kasparov is apolitical in those criticisms: George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Condoleeza Rice all receive criticism from Kasparov for treating Putin with kid gloves and not realizing the threat that Putin poses to the world.Kasparov also gives the reader a Russian's perspective as to what drives Putin. The best way I can describe Kasparov's take is that in some regards, Putin is a modern-day Hitler in that the lack of condemnation from Western democracies further emboldens him and drives him to expand his power, both domestically and abroad. In other regards, Putin is a Russian Don Corleone, using the powers of his office to benefit his oil oligarch friends and further increase all of their net worths.In the end, Kasparov warns that until the Western democracies draw a line in the sand and hold Putin accountable through harsh sanctions and a willingness to intervene in areas such as Crimea, Donbass, and South Ossetia, Putin will continue to expand his sphere of influence, to the detriment of said Western democracies.Witty, intellectual, and insightful, Kasparov's take on Putin is a solid read for anybody studying the Russian threat.

Quote:"“In my first years as an activist I often said that Putin was a Russian problem for Russians to solve, but that he would soon be a regional problem and then a global problem if his ambitions were ignored. This regrettable transformation has come to pass and lives are being lost because of it. It is cold comfort to be told ‘You were right!’. It is even less comforting when so little is being done to halt Putin’s aggression even now. What is the point of saying you should have listened and acted when you still aren’t listening and acting?” -- from Introduction to “Winter is Coming”"According to author Garry Kasparov Western appeasers with names like Bush, Merkel, Major, Clinton, Chirac, Obama, Schroder, Berlusconi, Sarkozy have been playing ball with Russian President Vladimir Putin for 15 years now. During the term of his predecessor Boris Yeltsin there had been a short window of opportunity to introduce democratic reforms to Russia and Yeltsin’s efforts met with limited success. Unfortunately, aided and abetted by the aforementioned Western leaders Vladimir Putin has reversed course since 2000 and has fashioned a KGB police state with far-reaching consequences for his own country and for the rest of humanity. Kasparov lays out precisely how we got here from there in his hard-hitting new book “Winter Is Coming: Why Vladimir Putin and the Enemies of the Free World must be Stopped”. This is easily one of the most important books I have read recently." by Paul Tognetti (above)Yes, there is a lot of history and names I didn't know - but the point is "what" is happening - "how" it is happening, and "why"I happened to order this book recently - before the information about Putins involvement in the American election. Good timing. I have always been fearful and concerned about Putin - especially since his submarine war games with Venzeuela in 2008 - scheduled to be in the Gulf of Mexico - and conflicts with Putin over the ownership of the arctic - since it is beginning to meltOur government seems to have turned a blind eye - and tried to approach Putin in a way that you would approach a "normal" head of country. But Putin is NOT a normal head of country. Our approach he has seen as weakness - and he continues to run over us. And now the 2016 Presidential electionIt has to stop. We must stand up to him. Yes, even with military force - and I am a pacifist. I am like Obama an Idealist. I want to solve problems with "working together" - I detest conflict. "John Lennon's "Imagine" is pretty much my philosophy. But I have read enough about Russia in the past (Yes, I read The Gulag Archipelago by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn - back in the 1970's) to be waryKasparov compares him to a mafia don. His driving desire is for money, and power. His instincts are always to bribe, to steal and to eliminate potential adversaries. Compromise and a "restart" button (as Hillary suggested) do not work with him. He laughs at us - and then takes another step toward subduing usTrump is no match - he has already been bribed by Putin. Diplomacy is no match. We must stand up to him and hit him where it hurts. I just hope it is not too late

It may be because I read quite a bit of this book during the John McCain funeral events, but I found it both informative and depressing, though I did come away with a better understanding of events in Russia following the fall of the Berlin Wall and 2015, both the Russian and Western world's contribution to the rise of a kleptocratic dictatorship, and how easily that can happen.Why? One of the quotes that sticks with me is: "We do know that the sooner Putin is gone, the better chance there is that the chaos and violence Boris [Nemstov] feared can be avoided. It is chance Russia and the world must take." Just substitute "Trump" for Putin and "America" for Russia. And in the same vein, try "Anti-modernity is a dangerous virus, and to remove a virus, a reboot or reset is not enough. We have to build a values-based system that is robust enough to resist the virus at home, smart enough to stop it before it spreads, and bold enough to eradicate it when it grows." And, "Like a weed, evil can be cut back but never entirely uprooted. It waits for its chance to spread through the cracks in our vigilance."So what did I take away from this chess master's book? Just like a good chess player, we have to "never lose sight of the big picture. Paying too much attention to one area of the chessboard can quickly lead to the collapse of your entire position." We have to do what we have to do. Take it one step at a time, and keep our minds focused on the whole board. Maintain our vigilance. It is the price of freedom.

Well written and informative. Kasparov's choice of words can be very entertaining even though the subject matter isn't. Well worth the read.

Reading this brilliant book from 2015 - and looking on what Russia (Putin) is doing in Ukraine 2022 - I think that more democratic leaders/politicians should take the time to read it too. Todays invasion in 2022 should not be a surprise - it was all there to see.

This book is written by a Russian who wanted to live in 'free Russia' but couldn't. He explains the fall of Russia and how Putin and his people went on to annex Crimea. The book was published after Russia captured Crimea, but before the full-fledged war against Ukraine. Kasprov provides a good insight. Must read, especially for people who still support Russia.

This is a must read. Especially for anyone not understanding the complexity of what is currently going on in Ukrain and Russia. It tells a dark tale on you-know-who. But it also puts correctly the blame to the West, who has been feeding off him for while they could profit from it. And now are about to pay the price. What also is incredible, is how this book was written ages ago, but kind of perfectly forecasts the recent history. Crazy.

Excellent book. It is an eye opener of how Putin got to be so powerful and how the western world help him to get there. Warning signs of what is coming if western leaders don’t act strongly against Putin’s aggression towards the Ukraine democracy and the Ukrainian people. History teach us what may lie ahead.