Putin's Wars

The Rise of Russia’s New Imperialism -Second Enlarged Edition

This fully updated book offers the first systematic analysis of Putin’s three wars, placing the Second Chechen War, the war with Georgia of 2008, and the war with Ukraine of 2014-2015 in their broader historical context. Readable and clearly argued, this study is essential for understanding the dynamics of Putin’s regime.

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“For those looking for the rationale for President Putin’s conduct, this book represents an excellent start… Putin’s Wars is highly recommended by this reviewer.”
- Canadian Military Journal

“Most timely! The book is recommended as a well-documented, well-argued, and strong criticism of Moscow’s foreign policy”
- Choice

“What Putin’s Wars does so successfully is establish that Russian imperialism is not something left in the past, but a prospect for the future, an argument strengthened by the events [in Ukraine] ”
- E-International Relations

“This book … provides outright answers. Marcel Van Herpen … convincingly foretells the current crisis ”
- Global Asia

“Van Herpen asserts in a timely new book, Putin’s Wars, that the Russian leader deliberately launched two wars after coming to power in 1999, first in Chechnya and then in Georgia, and that his relative success in both led to his current drive to dismember Ukraine …. Drawing on a wide variety of Russian sources, Van Herpen documents how Russia’s FSB intelligence agency, under Putin’s direction, staged a series of explosions directed against civilian targets in Moscow and other cities. He notes that no Chechen has ever been put on trial for the bombing of apartment buildings, and the parliamentary commission set up to investigate the attacks had to stop its work because of a lack of cooperation from the Russian government ”
- McClatchy News Bureau