Vladimir Putin seemed to have come from nowhere when he succeeded the ailing and incompetent Boris Yeltsin as President of Russia in March 2000. It was as if hc had taken the Kremlin bv stealth perhaps, it was whispcred using the skills hc acquired as a senior agent in thc KGB.In fact, Putin's rise to prominence owes more to a combination of canny manoeuvring and blat, the traditional Russian system of cronyism and patronage. Putins Progress is the first comprchcnsivc exploration in English of Putins character and offers nany insights into his likely legacy shcdding new light on one of the most enigmatic of modern lcadcrs and what it means to live in Putins Russia.

Dr Peter Truscott was a member of the European Parliament between 1994 and 1999, during which time he served as Labours Foreign Affairs and Defence Spokesman, a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Vice-President of the Security Committee and a member of the delegation for relations with the Russian Federation.An Associate Research Fellow at the Institute for Public Policy Research, he is an independent policy analyst and broadcaster specialising in Russian, defence and security matters. He is the author of Russia First: Breaking With the West (1997), European Defence:Meeting the Strategic Challenge (2000) and Kursk: Russias Lost Pride (2002). Following his doctorate from Oxford University, he has written extensively on foreign and security policy.In June 2004 Dr Truscott was created Lord Truscott, Baron Truscott of St James"s in the City of Westminster.

Preface

The 900 Days

Vladimir Junior

The Spy Who Loved Me

On the Way Up

President Putin Gets Elected

The Kursk Goes Down

The Home Front

Putin in the World

The Moscow Theatre Siege

Epilogue

Source Notes

Index