Putin's Exiles

Their Fight for a Better Russia

by Paul Starobin

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Pub Date Jan 30 2024 | Archive Date Feb 05 2024

Columbia Global Reports

History | Nonfiction (Adult) | Politics & Current Affairs

Description

Since Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine, some one million Russians have fled the country and gone into exile. Motivated by opposition to the war, by guilt for their country's deeds, by personal hatred for Putin, and by a vision of a better Russia, shorn of autocracy, the exiles have mounted an organized resistance.

Paul Starobin, a veteran analyst of Russia, travels to places like Armenia and Georgia to meet with exiles and has conversations with prominent figures throughout Europe and America, as he takes measure of this rebellion--and its portenital to fix a nation plagued by revanchist imperial dreams.

PUTIN'S EXILES is an indispensable work for anyone trying to understand Russia today--to go beyond Putin's propaganda and the tightly controlled narrative inside the country, and look outside its borders to the diaspora of Russian exiles, who are imagining and fighting for the future of their country.

PAUL STAROBIN is a former Moscow bureau chief for Businessweek and former contributing editor of the Atlantic. He is the author of three books, including After America: Narratives for the Next Global Age. He has written for numerous publications, including the New York Times, the Washington Post, and the Wall Street Journal.

Advance Praise

"Starobin offers a timely snapshot of the mass exodus of Russians seeking to avoid complicity in Russia's war in Ukraine. His narrative is action packed and artfully contextualized with the arc of Russian and Soviet history, and its fast pacing reflects the speed with which his protagonists left Russia. It is a must read for anyone who wants to understand the myriad motivations of exiled Russians and their ardent desires to shape their country's future." ~ Fiona Hill, senior fellow at Brookings Institution and senior director for European and Russian affairs on the U.S. National Security Council, 2017-2019

"Paul Starobin's richly reported and shrewdly argued essay poses a provocative question: Could the more than a million Russians who have left Russia since Putin launched his war on Ukraine be a factor in the downfall of Putin's imperial autocracy? Starobin examines the disparate motives of this new diaspora and, without overstating the case, concludes that 'the exiles are an actor and possibly an author of the outcome.'" ~ Bill Keller, former Moscow correspondent and executive editor of The New York Times

"Starobin's hands-on examination of Russia's exile community is a remarkable story of brave people looking to the future." ~ Kirkus Reviews

"This short volume is a must-read for anyone who cares about the future of Russia, Ukraine and the cascading consequences of Putin's aggression for the wider world. Starobin has crafted an efficient, highly readable field guide to the interlocking ambitions, relationships, and origins of Russia's new exiles, reflecting careful research into both individual stories and broader context. Those whose lives and work intersect with Putin's Exiles will come back again and again to mine this book's rich veins of profile and dialogue." ~ Matthew Rojanksy, President and CEO of the U.S. Russia Foundation

"Starobin offers a timely snapshot of the mass exodus of Russians seeking to avoid complicity in Russia's war in Ukraine. His narrative is action packed and artfully contextualized with the arc of...