Portrait of Putin’s past

by J Michael Waller, Perspective (Boston University), Vol. X, No. 3, February 25, 2000. Why is so little known about the KGB career of Russia’s acting President Vladimir Putin? Most reporting on both sides of the Atlantic is thinly sourced, if sourced at all, and often conflicting. Was Putin a professional foreign intelligence cadre officer whose … Read more

Yeltsin keeps it all in the family (on the rise of Putin)

by J Michael Waller, Insight, September 6, 1999 Download PDF: IM Rise of Putin 1999.09.06 Boris Yeltsin has named the head of the secret police, Vladimir Putin, as his latest prime minister, raising fundamental concerns about the direction Russia is taking. As a KGB officer he oversaw the Stasi secret police in Communist East Germany. He led … Read more