Leon Aron chronicles the transformation of Russian politics and society under Putin. Through hundreds of Russian-language sources, Aron shows how Putin uses militarist propaganda and sanitized revisionist images of World War II, Stalin, and the Soviet Union to forge a nationalist and loyal core of his regime's support. Dr. Aron's analysis of Russian political culture helps us better understand Russia's revanchist tendencies, its invasion of Ukraine, and the perilous road ahead. Aron argues that Putin's actions are driven by the Russian president's need to ensure his regime's survival, avenge the fall of the Soviet Union, combat the "America-led West," and make Russia a superpower again. Putin is now stuck in a vast and savage war that he can neither win nor walk away from. He hopes America and its allies undergo "Ukraine fatigue," but what if he decides he cannot outwait the West?

Leon Aron was born in
Moscow and came to the United States as a refugee from the Soviet Union. He is
the author of Roads to the
Temple: Truth, Memory, Ideas, and Ideals in the Making of the Russian
Revolution, 1987-1991 (Yale University
Press, 2012); Russia's
Revolution: Essays, 1989-2006 (AEI Press,
2007); and Yeltsin: A
Revolutionary Life (St. Martin's Press,
2000). From 2014 to 2020, he served on the board of trustees of the US Agency
for Global Media. He holds a PhD from Columbia University and is a senior
fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.