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The Folly and the Glory: America, Russia, and Political Warfare 1945–2020
From Tim Weiner, winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award, an urgent and gripping account of the 75-year battle between the US and Russia that led to the election and impeachment of an American presidentWith vivid storytelling and riveting insider accounts, Weiner traces the roots of political warfare—the conflict America and Russia have waged with espionage, sabotage, diplomacy and disinformation—from 1945 until 2020. America won the cold war, but Russia is winning today. Vladimir Putin helped to put his chosen candidate in the White House with a covert campaign that continues to this moment. Putin’s Russia has revived Soviet-era intelligence operations gaining ever more potent information from—and influence over—the American people and government. Yet the US has put little power into its defense. This has put American democracy in peril.Weiner takes us behind closed doors, illuminating Russian and American intelligence operations and their consequences. To get to the heart of what is at stake and find potential solutions, he examines long-running 20th-century CIA operations, the global political machinations of the Soviet KGB, the erosion of American political warfare after the cold war, and how 21st-century Russia has kept the cold war alive. The Folly and the Glory is an urgent call to our leaders and citizens to understand the nature of political warfare—and to change course before it’s too late.
332 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 22, 2020
157 people are currently reading
3125 people want to read
About the author
Tim Weiner
16 books585 followersTim Weiner reported for The New York Times for many years as a foreign correspondent and as a national security correspondent in Washington, DC. He has won the Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting and the National Book Award for LEGACY OF ASHES: The History of the CIA. His new book, out in July, is ONE MAN AGAINST THE WORLD: The Tragedy of Richard Nixon.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 94 reviews
December 7, 2020
This book is a must-read for anyone who wants to understand how the United States has become what it currently is: tribal and deeply divided about nearly everything but most of all about politics. It explains how the US utterly missed the boat with regard to the power of social media and how this lack of knowledge created an opening for the forces that wished and still wish to destroy the Democratic process, not only in the US but in other nations as well. It's an incredible look at how the Cold War has been fought and how public opinion has been formed, particularly since 1945. If nothing else, Chapters 9 and 10 are worth the cover price. I will never again look at politics in the same way. The books is written by a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist who has also won the National Book Award. It's highly footnoted. You won't regret reading it.
January 5, 2023
An interesting read
February 21, 2026
God, Guns and Trump
The three scariest words in the English language are God, Guns, and Trump. I once saw a yard sign in 2020 with this slogan boldly emblazed in white letters on a black background with stars, flourishes, and banners. This is a tribal identity sign. Identity politics is an invention of the political right and it replaces fact-based reality. Well, if you can believe in God you can believe in anything. This is why Trump can lie about his lies and be believed, and this is why the U.S. is a prisoner of his successful lies. A long dark future awaits but hey, soft authoritarianism is good for the financial markets and asset valuations. This is the bribe Trump gives to the American people who are more than willing to accept it.
Thucydides Said it Best
“The tyranny Athens imposed on others; it finally imposed on itself.” This quote applies well in that the disinformation the U.S. imposed on others, it is finally imposing on itself. The CIA has a long history of using propaganda, subversion, fraud, deception and violence to overthrow governments, create revolutions, support juntas, swing elections, and change public opinion throughout the world. The U.S. is now using these tactics to impose disinformation upon itself by promoting election fraud conspiracies, undermining institutions, dehumanizing immigrants, destroying social bonds, and attacking its own institutions. I mean, the U.S. government is now attacking its own research institutions in science and medicine with a critical mass of Americans convinced that this is in their best interest, or that they are fighting demons. The U.S. government is now making decisions in the areas of research, immigration, diplomacy and economics that benefits its strategic opponents, e.g., Russia and China. It is called an “own goal” in sports, scoring one for the other team so to speak.
The Trojan War
Perhaps a more apposite ancient allusion is to the Trojan War. Tim Weiner makes this compassion in the afterword of the book. The Russian secret services (Putin) pulled off the most audacious subterfuge since the Greeks tricked the Trojans into accepting the great wooden horse. The Americans did the same in accepting the mentally vacuous Trump filled with Russian propaganda. Trump is an agent of influence for the Putin’s war on democracy. And this has worked, Americans are divided against each other with anger inflamed to the point of state sponsored violence, they distrust their own institutions, they no longer care about the rule of law, they have been reduced to racist blood and soil politics, and they have lost confidence in democracy. Further, Trump has damaged U.S. national security by undermining alliances.
The Russian Insight
Human beings can be easily manipulated into acting against their own best interests and the Russians have been expert at doing this since the time Ivan the Terrible in the sixteenth century. Information, misinformation, and disinformation are weapons just as much as any firearm. The key is to get into the opponents’ ‘mind’ and make ‘him’ think your interests are ‘his’ interests, like a parasite. The Russians understand the key is to undermine objective truth and facts, and further, to undermine the belief in the existence of objective truth and facts. As Tim Weiner points out, truth is no longer the first casualty of war, it is now the enemy. This strategy is working wonderfully on the large segment of the American public that elected Donald Trump and still supports him. By convincing people that reality is something different than what it is, it becomes easy to make them unwitting instruments in their own demise. Soviet/Russian attempts to undermine American politics and society are nothing new, the U.S. has done the same the world over, but with social media, the Russians and others now have the tools needed make Americans cooperate in their own demise - to undermine national unity, destroy alliances, disrupt social relations, increase political unrest, promote economic turmoil, etc. In these efforts, a blinkered majority of the American people has become a willing partner in it’s own destruction as never before. Russian use of forgeries, disinformation and ‘fake new’ is nothing new in the world of espionage but with the tools of social media, the KGB/FSA/GRU/SRV has been able to reach the credulous American public whose minds are easily bent and warped with conspiracy theories. Turning Americans against each other and degrading trust in institutions is an integral part of the Russian strategy in which deceived, distracted and dismayed American willingly cooperate. This is echoed in the U.S. as “all politicians are corrupt”, “elections do not matter”, “experts do not know what they are talking about”, “fake news”.
The American Flaw
The dangerous assumption of American Exceptionalism leads to the notion that America is invulnerable which produces the fatal vulnerability. This creates a blindness that is easily manipulated. Russian success is based on taking advantage of systematic and systemic American faults and amplifying them with social media. The U.S. imposes disinformation on itself partly by not recognizing its own fatal faults which provide easy targets for Russian and other foreign influences. These exceptional flaws are 1) hyper-individualism where people feel entitled to their own facts and thus their own reality which is easily identified, classified, targeted, and manipulated, 2) supercharged moral outrage which is used to turn mundane political differences into existential battels of right versus wrong, and 3) empowered Evangelical Christian Fundamentalism whose credulous believers can be easily manipulated into thinking they are doing the Lord’s work or fighting Satan. When politics becomes about moral absolutism, institutions fail and safeguards no longer operate. There are no longer common facts or a shared reality in America. This creates fertile ground for a divide and conquer manipulation strategy. In other words, all the Russians need to do is to exploit American Exceptionalism. American stupidity is extended by the certainty of American Exceptionalism.
Coda
I had some initial hesitation in reading this book in 2026 since it ends in 2020, prior to the election. That is, so much more has happened since 2020, e.g., the Russian invasion of the Ukraine in 2022 and the reelection of Trump n 2024. Everything detailed in the book in terms of the useful idiot Trump repeating and parroting demonstrably false conspiracy theories, the credulous American public, the willing accomplices in the media, institutional failure (public and private), and the criminals in the government have only become worse and more pernicious since 2020. The Russians have no need to tamper with the machinery of voting or to alter election data to change election results. All they need to do is tamper with and alter gullible Americans willing to believe in conspiracy theories. The slow but steady degradation of civil liberties, Constitutional protections, the rule of law, the democratic process, and political pluralism continues unabated, now to the point of no return. These are being replaced with blood and soil nationalism, white supremacy racism, immigrant scapegoating, goon squad thuggery, and public corruption.
Instead of Russia becoming more like the U.S. at the end of the Cold War, the U.S. has become more like Russia, a gangster state and a thieves’ paradises. The idea that Russia would become a democracy resides outside the realm of political reality and in the land of magical thinking based on the fantasy that capitalism brings democracy and that free markets are the source of freedom. This is as pernicious and damaging as religious thinking. In the U.S., it is 1984 in the Orwellian sense of a dystopia where MAGA commands and controls the perceptions, views, and actions of the people.
I have come to the conclusion the democracy and representative government is the exception to the historical patterns of human governance; that we are now simply experiencing a reversion to the mean in patterns of human governance which is authoritarianism, corruption, and repression. The rules based world order in the eighty years from 1945 – 2025, flawed as it was, was the exception, not the norm. That is, peace, progress, and cooperation are the exception. Authoritarian, corruption, and fear are the norm.
The ultimate American cooperation with the KGB/FSA/GRU/SRV in it’s own demise was the election of the Donald Trump in 2016 and 2024. These were triumphs for the Russian information warfare efforts. I have always thought that a vote for Trump in 2016 was a mistake and that mistakes are forgivable; that a vote Trump in 2020 was stupid and that stupid cannot be fixed; but that a vote for Trump in 2024 was evil and evil is unforgivable.
Coda Coda
I feel that we are entering the ending stages of an epoch; that being the epoch of large coherent civilizations or national societies. The future will be one of smaller independent and aligned micro communities and independent enclaves.
The three scariest words in the English language are God, Guns, and Trump. I once saw a yard sign in 2020 with this slogan boldly emblazed in white letters on a black background with stars, flourishes, and banners. This is a tribal identity sign. Identity politics is an invention of the political right and it replaces fact-based reality. Well, if you can believe in God you can believe in anything. This is why Trump can lie about his lies and be believed, and this is why the U.S. is a prisoner of his successful lies. A long dark future awaits but hey, soft authoritarianism is good for the financial markets and asset valuations. This is the bribe Trump gives to the American people who are more than willing to accept it.
Thucydides Said it Best
“The tyranny Athens imposed on others; it finally imposed on itself.” This quote applies well in that the disinformation the U.S. imposed on others, it is finally imposing on itself. The CIA has a long history of using propaganda, subversion, fraud, deception and violence to overthrow governments, create revolutions, support juntas, swing elections, and change public opinion throughout the world. The U.S. is now using these tactics to impose disinformation upon itself by promoting election fraud conspiracies, undermining institutions, dehumanizing immigrants, destroying social bonds, and attacking its own institutions. I mean, the U.S. government is now attacking its own research institutions in science and medicine with a critical mass of Americans convinced that this is in their best interest, or that they are fighting demons. The U.S. government is now making decisions in the areas of research, immigration, diplomacy and economics that benefits its strategic opponents, e.g., Russia and China. It is called an “own goal” in sports, scoring one for the other team so to speak.
The Trojan War
Perhaps a more apposite ancient allusion is to the Trojan War. Tim Weiner makes this compassion in the afterword of the book. The Russian secret services (Putin) pulled off the most audacious subterfuge since the Greeks tricked the Trojans into accepting the great wooden horse. The Americans did the same in accepting the mentally vacuous Trump filled with Russian propaganda. Trump is an agent of influence for the Putin’s war on democracy. And this has worked, Americans are divided against each other with anger inflamed to the point of state sponsored violence, they distrust their own institutions, they no longer care about the rule of law, they have been reduced to racist blood and soil politics, and they have lost confidence in democracy. Further, Trump has damaged U.S. national security by undermining alliances.
The Russian Insight
Human beings can be easily manipulated into acting against their own best interests and the Russians have been expert at doing this since the time Ivan the Terrible in the sixteenth century. Information, misinformation, and disinformation are weapons just as much as any firearm. The key is to get into the opponents’ ‘mind’ and make ‘him’ think your interests are ‘his’ interests, like a parasite. The Russians understand the key is to undermine objective truth and facts, and further, to undermine the belief in the existence of objective truth and facts. As Tim Weiner points out, truth is no longer the first casualty of war, it is now the enemy. This strategy is working wonderfully on the large segment of the American public that elected Donald Trump and still supports him. By convincing people that reality is something different than what it is, it becomes easy to make them unwitting instruments in their own demise. Soviet/Russian attempts to undermine American politics and society are nothing new, the U.S. has done the same the world over, but with social media, the Russians and others now have the tools needed make Americans cooperate in their own demise - to undermine national unity, destroy alliances, disrupt social relations, increase political unrest, promote economic turmoil, etc. In these efforts, a blinkered majority of the American people has become a willing partner in it’s own destruction as never before. Russian use of forgeries, disinformation and ‘fake new’ is nothing new in the world of espionage but with the tools of social media, the KGB/FSA/GRU/SRV has been able to reach the credulous American public whose minds are easily bent and warped with conspiracy theories. Turning Americans against each other and degrading trust in institutions is an integral part of the Russian strategy in which deceived, distracted and dismayed American willingly cooperate. This is echoed in the U.S. as “all politicians are corrupt”, “elections do not matter”, “experts do not know what they are talking about”, “fake news”.
The American Flaw
The dangerous assumption of American Exceptionalism leads to the notion that America is invulnerable which produces the fatal vulnerability. This creates a blindness that is easily manipulated. Russian success is based on taking advantage of systematic and systemic American faults and amplifying them with social media. The U.S. imposes disinformation on itself partly by not recognizing its own fatal faults which provide easy targets for Russian and other foreign influences. These exceptional flaws are 1) hyper-individualism where people feel entitled to their own facts and thus their own reality which is easily identified, classified, targeted, and manipulated, 2) supercharged moral outrage which is used to turn mundane political differences into existential battels of right versus wrong, and 3) empowered Evangelical Christian Fundamentalism whose credulous believers can be easily manipulated into thinking they are doing the Lord’s work or fighting Satan. When politics becomes about moral absolutism, institutions fail and safeguards no longer operate. There are no longer common facts or a shared reality in America. This creates fertile ground for a divide and conquer manipulation strategy. In other words, all the Russians need to do is to exploit American Exceptionalism. American stupidity is extended by the certainty of American Exceptionalism.
Coda
I had some initial hesitation in reading this book in 2026 since it ends in 2020, prior to the election. That is, so much more has happened since 2020, e.g., the Russian invasion of the Ukraine in 2022 and the reelection of Trump n 2024. Everything detailed in the book in terms of the useful idiot Trump repeating and parroting demonstrably false conspiracy theories, the credulous American public, the willing accomplices in the media, institutional failure (public and private), and the criminals in the government have only become worse and more pernicious since 2020. The Russians have no need to tamper with the machinery of voting or to alter election data to change election results. All they need to do is tamper with and alter gullible Americans willing to believe in conspiracy theories. The slow but steady degradation of civil liberties, Constitutional protections, the rule of law, the democratic process, and political pluralism continues unabated, now to the point of no return. These are being replaced with blood and soil nationalism, white supremacy racism, immigrant scapegoating, goon squad thuggery, and public corruption.
Instead of Russia becoming more like the U.S. at the end of the Cold War, the U.S. has become more like Russia, a gangster state and a thieves’ paradises. The idea that Russia would become a democracy resides outside the realm of political reality and in the land of magical thinking based on the fantasy that capitalism brings democracy and that free markets are the source of freedom. This is as pernicious and damaging as religious thinking. In the U.S., it is 1984 in the Orwellian sense of a dystopia where MAGA commands and controls the perceptions, views, and actions of the people.
I have come to the conclusion the democracy and representative government is the exception to the historical patterns of human governance; that we are now simply experiencing a reversion to the mean in patterns of human governance which is authoritarianism, corruption, and repression. The rules based world order in the eighty years from 1945 – 2025, flawed as it was, was the exception, not the norm. That is, peace, progress, and cooperation are the exception. Authoritarian, corruption, and fear are the norm.
The ultimate American cooperation with the KGB/FSA/GRU/SRV in it’s own demise was the election of the Donald Trump in 2016 and 2024. These were triumphs for the Russian information warfare efforts. I have always thought that a vote for Trump in 2016 was a mistake and that mistakes are forgivable; that a vote Trump in 2020 was stupid and that stupid cannot be fixed; but that a vote for Trump in 2024 was evil and evil is unforgivable.
Coda Coda
I feel that we are entering the ending stages of an epoch; that being the epoch of large coherent civilizations or national societies. The future will be one of smaller independent and aligned micro communities and independent enclaves.
June 5, 2022
“Разделяй и владей е славна цел, но само разделянето също върши работа.”
Когато мислим за най-новата ни история, не можем да пропуснем политическата война. Тя се намира идеална почва за развитие през Студената война, в която преките военни сблъсъци са изключени, затова и двата полюса пренасочват бойното поле на друг терен – този на умовете на хората. Политическата война покрива широк спектър от дейности – дипломация, разузнаване, дезинформация, изнудвания, манипулации, заблуди, а в последно време активно използване на социалните мрежи и кибершпионаж.
Това е игра, в която американците се включват доста след руснаците и често изостават зад тях. Зрелищните провали на тайните операции на ЦРУ, които издигат и свалят африкански и латиноамерикански автократи, освен че струват колосални суми, дискредитират външнополитическата роля на САЩ. Доста по-успешен се оказва проектът за радио, което да излъчва антикомунистическа пропаганда зад Желязната завеса, както и подкрепата за полското движние “Солидарност”.
Но през това време и КГБ начело с Андропов е наострило уши и улавя всяка възможност, за да дискредитира главния си враг. Фалшификации като изобретяването на СПИН, използването на западни леви интелектуалци като “полезни идиоти” и в по-стари времена – клеветата за световния еврейски заговор, са все творения на ефективната руска пропагандна машина. На американците им трябва доста дълго време, за да осъзнаят мащабите на руската политическа война, да не говорим за изработване на стратегии за справяне. По-често става дума за закъсняла реакция, отколкото за изпреварващ удар или инициативност.
Безспорно, най-противоречивият и интересен период от гледна точка днешното противопоставяне са първите години след рухването на СССР и отношенията Елцин-Клинтън, както и разширяването на НАТО с бившите соц сателити, което според някои провокирало трайно недоволство и чувство за обсаденост в Кремъл – това е и една от опорките, които се използват за оправдаване на сегашната война и погазване суверенитета на независима държава.
И докато САЩ са заети в борбата срещу тероризма и изнасянето на демокрация в Близкия Изток – съвсем оправдано критикувани от автора, техните съперници усъвършенстват инструментариума на информационната война, чиято кулминация на успеха са президентските избори в САЩ през 2016 г.
Информационната война продължава с пълна сила – ефективна и лесно достигаща аудиторията си, тя постига целите си както в неукрепнали демокрации с лошо образовано население, така и в утвърдени такива, но загубили посоката и чувството си за мисия в света.
“Дезинформацията може да бъде смъртоносна, когато бъде оставена да се разпространява безпрепятствено.”
“…империите не изчезват просто така.”
“демокрацията не може лесно да се развие, не може лесно и да бъде изнесена; тя не е стока като соя или маратонки, а идеал, който живее в умовете.”
Когато мислим за най-новата ни история, не можем да пропуснем политическата война. Тя се намира идеална почва за развитие през Студената война, в която преките военни сблъсъци са изключени, затова и двата полюса пренасочват бойното поле на друг терен – този на умовете на хората. Политическата война покрива широк спектър от дейности – дипломация, разузнаване, дезинформация, изнудвания, манипулации, заблуди, а в последно време активно използване на социалните мрежи и кибершпионаж.
Това е игра, в която американците се включват доста след руснаците и често изостават зад тях. Зрелищните провали на тайните операции на ЦРУ, които издигат и свалят африкански и латиноамерикански автократи, освен че струват колосални суми, дискредитират външнополитическата роля на САЩ. Доста по-успешен се оказва проектът за радио, което да излъчва антикомунистическа пропаганда зад Желязната завеса, както и подкрепата за полското движние “Солидарност”.
Но през това време и КГБ начело с Андропов е наострило уши и улавя всяка възможност, за да дискредитира главния си враг. Фалшификации като изобретяването на СПИН, използването на западни леви интелектуалци като “полезни идиоти” и в по-стари времена – клеветата за световния еврейски заговор, са все творения на ефективната руска пропагандна машина. На американците им трябва доста дълго време, за да осъзнаят мащабите на руската политическа война, да не говорим за изработване на стратегии за справяне. По-често става дума за закъсняла реакция, отколкото за изпреварващ удар или инициативност.
Безспорно, най-противоречивият и интересен период от гледна точка днешното противопоставяне са първите години след рухването на СССР и отношенията Елцин-Клинтън, както и разширяването на НАТО с бившите соц сателити, което според някои провокирало трайно недоволство и чувство за обсаденост в Кремъл – това е и една от опорките, които се използват за оправдаване на сегашната война и погазване суверенитета на независима държава.
И докато САЩ са заети в борбата срещу тероризма и изнасянето на демокрация в Близкия Изток – съвсем оправдано критикувани от автора, техните съперници усъвършенстват инструментариума на информационната война, чиято кулминация на успеха са президентските избори в САЩ през 2016 г.
Информационната война продължава с пълна сила – ефективна и лесно достигаща аудиторията си, тя постига целите си както в неукрепнали демокрации с лошо образовано население, така и в утвърдени такива, но загубили посоката и чувството си за мисия в света.
“Дезинформацията може да бъде смъртоносна, когато бъде оставена да се разпространява безпрепятствено.”
“…империите не изчезват просто така.”
“демокрацията не може лесно да се развие, не може лесно и да бъде изнесена; тя не е стока като соя или маратонки, а идеал, който живее в умовете.”
May 5, 2022
"Razboiul politic este modul in care natiunile isi proiecteaza puterea si actioneaza impotriva inamicului, cu exceptia lansarii de proiectile si a trimiterii de trupe."
Definitia lasa in afara sabotajele, asasinatele politice si loviturile de stat. Multe dintre aceste operatiuni clandestine sunt prezentate pe larg in cartea "CIA. O istorie secreta", de acelasi autor.
Definitia lasa in afara sabotajele, asasinatele politice si loviturile de stat. Multe dintre aceste operatiuni clandestine sunt prezentate pe larg in cartea "CIA. O istorie secreta", de acelasi autor.
January 21, 2022
Why is Ukraine-Russian tension in the news again? Why is Putin hard for our politicians to read? Americans like things to be clear. "We are at war" or "mission: accomplished!" You are our friend, or you are our enemy. Stalin's spiritual successor - Putin - is not like that at all. Weiner says, "Americans tend to see war and peace as night and day. Russians see a never-ending battle." I think he's right. And Putin uses the same playbook... over, and over, and over, and again today with Ukraine.
I found the first 3/4ths of the book more useful than the last 4th. I think it is clear that Putin was meddling in our election process when Trump was elected, but, based on the book, I'm not convinced about how influential the meddling actually was.
My favorite quote was from a Memorandum sent from President Eisenhower to his Secretary of State that said that political warfare could be "anything from the singing of a beautiful hymn up to the most extraordinary kind of physical sabotage." Can't wait to see a job opportunity for Assistant Minister of Subversive Hymnody and Warfare...
I found the first 3/4ths of the book more useful than the last 4th. I think it is clear that Putin was meddling in our election process when Trump was elected, but, based on the book, I'm not convinced about how influential the meddling actually was.
My favorite quote was from a Memorandum sent from President Eisenhower to his Secretary of State that said that political warfare could be "anything from the singing of a beautiful hymn up to the most extraordinary kind of physical sabotage." Can't wait to see a job opportunity for Assistant Minister of Subversive Hymnody and Warfare...
November 16, 2020
The first 70% of this book is fine. It's a summary of things most people probably already know about the cold war from 1945 - 2000. The last 30% is fantastic and makes a persuasive case that Russia really messed with the 2016 US election and continues to attack the US election system today. It gets into what Putin learned from Yuri Andropov and what Putin has tried to do since he took power after Yeltsin.
This makes Trump's refusal to concede more interesting. Trump's tantrums about the 2020 election are not really about whether or not Trump thinks he won, because it seems fairly clear that the money he is raising is going to pay off campaign debts. The real damage is in convincing the down and out Trump supporters that the 2020 election was illegitimate.
This makes Trump's refusal to concede more interesting. Trump's tantrums about the 2020 election are not really about whether or not Trump thinks he won, because it seems fairly clear that the money he is raising is going to pay off campaign debts. The real damage is in convincing the down and out Trump supporters that the 2020 election was illegitimate.
December 7, 2020
This is a concise overview of the political warfare between the Soviet Union/Russian Federation and the United States from 1945-2020 (March). It’s excellent and I learned a lot. It contains the information on the tensions after WWII and the assassinations the United States carried out. The most striking is allowing Mobutu Sese Seko taking power and keeping it while Washington DDC looked the other way. Reagan’s support for the Soviet Union’s collapse. Clinton attempting to keep Yeltsin healthy and agreeing to support Putin when he came to power. And we all know what Putin has very successfully done the last few years. A very good book.
September 7, 2020
TL;DR
The Folly and the Glory by Tim Weiner documents the political warfare between the U.S. and Russia from the start of the Cold War to today. This book documents how the U.S. failed to take Russia’s electronic warfare tactics seriously and has put American democracy at risk. Highly Recommended.
Disclaimer: The publisher provided an advanced review copy from NetGalley of The Folly and the Glory in exchange for an honest review.
Review: The Folly and the Glory
As a midwestern American who grew up with the action films of the 80s, consumed many Tom Clancy books, and planned to be a fighter pilot, I expected the Soviet Union to be the terror of my adult life. When the Berlin Wall fell, I felt national pride that the U.S. had outlasted the Soviets. I was young enough to believe that a new era of peace was to begin. Terrorism rose up as the existential threat, and Russia seemed to fade into the background. Then the build up to the 2016 election and its aftermath showed that the U.S. may not think of Russia as the enemy but Russia still saw us as the enemy. What I didn’t expect was that many of the same people who hated communists and would have been anti-Soviet during the Cold War, now dismissed claims of Russian interference. Sure, part of it was that Russia helped their side win. But the willingness to overlook Russia’s political warfare boggled my mind. How did the Republicans – the party of Reagan, who won the Cold War – deny if not welcome Russian interference? How did the Democrats, which were considered soft on the Soviets when I grew up, become the party willing to stand up to Russia? Seeking to answer these questions, I turned to Pulitzer prize winner Tim Weiner’s new book, The Folly and the Glory. In it, Mr. Weiner examines the role of political warfare from the end of World War 2 to today.
The subtitle for this book is “America, Russia, and Political Warfare 1945–2020.” That’s a lot of time and, as operations were world wide, a lot of ground to cover. Mr. Weiner surveys this time period well, choosing to zoom in and out such that the argument he’s building is strengthened without getting too bogged down in details. The first chapter is an excellent overview that defines political warfare and the purpose of the book. From there, he takes us to 1948, crediting George F. Kenan with the architecture of the Cold War, and progresses forward through time. The Folly and the Glory takes the reader through the development and beginnings of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to the CIA-backed coup in Congo to the end of the Cold War and the aftermath. Weiner documents Russia’s forays into electronic warfare as Putin tried to raise Russia’s influence in the world. U.S. hubris has kept it from adapting to the new method of warfare, and our leaders still fail to protect us.
Information warfare is a big topic of the book. Putin’s mentor, Yuri Vladimoirovich Andropov, created some of the most famous disinformation of that era, such as that the military invented AIDS. It turns out that the Soviet Union, the KGB, and the Russians in general are much better at information warfare than the U.S. The U.S. may have turned its eyes from Russia, but Russia never failed to keep the U.S. in sight. The final chapter details Russia’s efforts during the 2016 election. The disinformation and confusion would have made Andropov proud. The chapter focuses on the Internet Research Agency and the information gleaned during the Mueller probe. The overwhelming evidence shows that Russia interfered in our elections, an effort that surely continues today.
Tim Weiner Brings the Receipts
The sheer amount of source material from quotes to telegrams to interviews adds weight and immediacy to the text. Often historical surveys feel too distanced, too academic. In The Folly and the Glory Weiner finds a good balance between the long term view and using source material to give us a feel for the time.
The end notes made me happy, which is a weird sentence to write. But seeing the sources gives me a reading list for future investigation. I found myself browsing the notes, which is something I rarely do. There are a lot of resources to get lost in.
A Deep Book
Per the publisher, The Folly and the Glory clocks in at 336 pages. It felt like much more, in a good way. Each page was densely packed with information and narrative. This isn’t a book to just plow through in a couple hours, at least not for me. I had to take it slow and let my brain process all the good stuff on the page. After reading the chapter about the CIA’s intervention in Congo for the despot Joseph-Désiré Mobutu, I had to put the book down for a day. I couldn’t reconcile how the U.S. supported such a totalitarian regime. The author made it clear that the Congo was central to the U.S.’s African anti-communism strategy. But why did we continue to support him after seeing what horrible things he and his supporters did? This is an eternal question for why the U.S. continued/continues to prop up dictators all over the world. But that’s what a good book does, right? It makes us think; it makes us ask questions.
The Folly and the Glory is a slow read because there’s so much information. This didn’t bother me, but it’s an area where reader preference will affect your enjoyment of the book.
The Folly and the Glory made me think, throughout my reading, about U.S. foreign relations and political warfare. I’m not naive. I know that sometimes one partners with a lesser evil to defeat the larger (see: allying Stalin to defeat Hitler), but what happens when we become so focused on the larger evil that we don’t see the lesser grow? I don’t have an answer to that question. Tim Weiner explains why the U.S. propped up the Congo. But what was the cost? Did the U.S. save the present at the cost of the future?
Political Leanings
In our polarized nation, everything is viewed through politics. Covid is a health crisis, but it is yet another proxy for conservatives versus liberals in the U.S. I anticipate that people will want to know how the book leans. My belief is that conservatives will say it’s a leftist, revisionist history something something Marxist something postmodern, and that lefties will say it’s an apologia for the CIA, a neoliberal attempt to rationalize the horrors of the past as part of a national myth.
In reality, Tim Weiner wrote a book that promotes neither a liberal nor conservative viewpoint. His focus is Russia’s efforts engaging in political warfare, and the use of primary sources helps maintain his political neutrality. Therefore, I recommend this book to anyone interested in international political warfare, on the moderate side of either political ideology.
Conclusion
Tim Weiner’s The Folly and the Glory is a sobering read. Its lessons are tough but necessary if the U.S. wishes to defend itself. The Folly and the Glory documents the long history of political warfare between the U.S. and Russia. It’s long past time that the U.S. took Russia’s political warfare seriously again, and the The Folly and the Glory is the clarion call needed to start that conversation.
The Folly and the Glory by Tim Weiner is available from Henry Holt & Co on September 22nd, 2020.
8.5 out of 10!
The Folly and the Glory by Tim Weiner documents the political warfare between the U.S. and Russia from the start of the Cold War to today. This book documents how the U.S. failed to take Russia’s electronic warfare tactics seriously and has put American democracy at risk. Highly Recommended.
Disclaimer: The publisher provided an advanced review copy from NetGalley of The Folly and the Glory in exchange for an honest review.
Review: The Folly and the Glory
As a midwestern American who grew up with the action films of the 80s, consumed many Tom Clancy books, and planned to be a fighter pilot, I expected the Soviet Union to be the terror of my adult life. When the Berlin Wall fell, I felt national pride that the U.S. had outlasted the Soviets. I was young enough to believe that a new era of peace was to begin. Terrorism rose up as the existential threat, and Russia seemed to fade into the background. Then the build up to the 2016 election and its aftermath showed that the U.S. may not think of Russia as the enemy but Russia still saw us as the enemy. What I didn’t expect was that many of the same people who hated communists and would have been anti-Soviet during the Cold War, now dismissed claims of Russian interference. Sure, part of it was that Russia helped their side win. But the willingness to overlook Russia’s political warfare boggled my mind. How did the Republicans – the party of Reagan, who won the Cold War – deny if not welcome Russian interference? How did the Democrats, which were considered soft on the Soviets when I grew up, become the party willing to stand up to Russia? Seeking to answer these questions, I turned to Pulitzer prize winner Tim Weiner’s new book, The Folly and the Glory. In it, Mr. Weiner examines the role of political warfare from the end of World War 2 to today.
The subtitle for this book is “America, Russia, and Political Warfare 1945–2020.” That’s a lot of time and, as operations were world wide, a lot of ground to cover. Mr. Weiner surveys this time period well, choosing to zoom in and out such that the argument he’s building is strengthened without getting too bogged down in details. The first chapter is an excellent overview that defines political warfare and the purpose of the book. From there, he takes us to 1948, crediting George F. Kenan with the architecture of the Cold War, and progresses forward through time. The Folly and the Glory takes the reader through the development and beginnings of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to the CIA-backed coup in Congo to the end of the Cold War and the aftermath. Weiner documents Russia’s forays into electronic warfare as Putin tried to raise Russia’s influence in the world. U.S. hubris has kept it from adapting to the new method of warfare, and our leaders still fail to protect us.
Information warfare is a big topic of the book. Putin’s mentor, Yuri Vladimoirovich Andropov, created some of the most famous disinformation of that era, such as that the military invented AIDS. It turns out that the Soviet Union, the KGB, and the Russians in general are much better at information warfare than the U.S. The U.S. may have turned its eyes from Russia, but Russia never failed to keep the U.S. in sight. The final chapter details Russia’s efforts during the 2016 election. The disinformation and confusion would have made Andropov proud. The chapter focuses on the Internet Research Agency and the information gleaned during the Mueller probe. The overwhelming evidence shows that Russia interfered in our elections, an effort that surely continues today.
Tim Weiner Brings the Receipts
The sheer amount of source material from quotes to telegrams to interviews adds weight and immediacy to the text. Often historical surveys feel too distanced, too academic. In The Folly and the Glory Weiner finds a good balance between the long term view and using source material to give us a feel for the time.
The end notes made me happy, which is a weird sentence to write. But seeing the sources gives me a reading list for future investigation. I found myself browsing the notes, which is something I rarely do. There are a lot of resources to get lost in.
A Deep Book
Per the publisher, The Folly and the Glory clocks in at 336 pages. It felt like much more, in a good way. Each page was densely packed with information and narrative. This isn’t a book to just plow through in a couple hours, at least not for me. I had to take it slow and let my brain process all the good stuff on the page. After reading the chapter about the CIA’s intervention in Congo for the despot Joseph-Désiré Mobutu, I had to put the book down for a day. I couldn’t reconcile how the U.S. supported such a totalitarian regime. The author made it clear that the Congo was central to the U.S.’s African anti-communism strategy. But why did we continue to support him after seeing what horrible things he and his supporters did? This is an eternal question for why the U.S. continued/continues to prop up dictators all over the world. But that’s what a good book does, right? It makes us think; it makes us ask questions.
The Folly and the Glory is a slow read because there’s so much information. This didn’t bother me, but it’s an area where reader preference will affect your enjoyment of the book.
The Folly and the Glory made me think, throughout my reading, about U.S. foreign relations and political warfare. I’m not naive. I know that sometimes one partners with a lesser evil to defeat the larger (see: allying Stalin to defeat Hitler), but what happens when we become so focused on the larger evil that we don’t see the lesser grow? I don’t have an answer to that question. Tim Weiner explains why the U.S. propped up the Congo. But what was the cost? Did the U.S. save the present at the cost of the future?
Political Leanings
In our polarized nation, everything is viewed through politics. Covid is a health crisis, but it is yet another proxy for conservatives versus liberals in the U.S. I anticipate that people will want to know how the book leans. My belief is that conservatives will say it’s a leftist, revisionist history something something Marxist something postmodern, and that lefties will say it’s an apologia for the CIA, a neoliberal attempt to rationalize the horrors of the past as part of a national myth.
In reality, Tim Weiner wrote a book that promotes neither a liberal nor conservative viewpoint. His focus is Russia’s efforts engaging in political warfare, and the use of primary sources helps maintain his political neutrality. Therefore, I recommend this book to anyone interested in international political warfare, on the moderate side of either political ideology.
Conclusion
Tim Weiner’s The Folly and the Glory is a sobering read. Its lessons are tough but necessary if the U.S. wishes to defend itself. The Folly and the Glory documents the long history of political warfare between the U.S. and Russia. It’s long past time that the U.S. took Russia’s political warfare seriously again, and the The Folly and the Glory is the clarion call needed to start that conversation.
The Folly and the Glory by Tim Weiner is available from Henry Holt & Co on September 22nd, 2020.
8.5 out of 10!
October 23, 2020
(Audiobook) (1.5 stars) I am not entirely sure what I expected to read/listen to when I checked this book out, but after listen to it (it wasn't that long, fortunately) I don't feel that this is anywhere near his best work...not by a long shot. I am not sure where to begin in the critique. The idea of "political warfare" seems like a redundant statement, as all war is inherently political. Perhaps a focus on influence or information warfare would suffice. From there, it is a jumbled attempted to summarize the Cold War through 2016 through the lens of how the Soviet Union/Russia and the US attempted to counter each other in the realm of information/propaganda conflict. It was hard to follow exactly what Weiner was looking to achieve. The strongest part of the book was mentioning how the Soviet disinformation campaigns attempted to thwart various US activities (1980 election/1984 Olympics). That you could see as a parallel to 2016. The historic context was helpful to try to explain why, but Weiner could have really dug into the US vs. USSR/Russia disinformation actions. Perhaps he could have offered other more modern examples (France, Australia, etc).
Instead, this work goes from Cliff's Notes history to a rehash of the Washington Post when it came to 2016. Perhaps some parts were taken from the Mueller Report, which came out in 2019. However, the conclusion of the book just skips all of 2018 and 2019. The warning nature of the work will turn off a number of polarized readers. There was potential with this work and subject, but it felt like Weiner was mailing it in, with much of the backstory just a rehash of his other works (some of which could be seen as way overrated (Legacy of Ashes, anyone?)).
Perhaps if you had not followed any of the current US/Russia relations/interactions or if you didn't remember much of your Cold War history, this one might rate higher. However, for a reader with greater familiarity, this work, aside from some of the 1980s information, will tell you little that you probably didn't know coming into this book. If you are in that situation of having familiarity, then don't waste your time or money with this book. You gain nothing. If you need a primer of some sort, this might be worth a listen (the reader is ok, but he doesn't add or detract from the text).
Instead, this work goes from Cliff's Notes history to a rehash of the Washington Post when it came to 2016. Perhaps some parts were taken from the Mueller Report, which came out in 2019. However, the conclusion of the book just skips all of 2018 and 2019. The warning nature of the work will turn off a number of polarized readers. There was potential with this work and subject, but it felt like Weiner was mailing it in, with much of the backstory just a rehash of his other works (some of which could be seen as way overrated (Legacy of Ashes, anyone?)).
Perhaps if you had not followed any of the current US/Russia relations/interactions or if you didn't remember much of your Cold War history, this one might rate higher. However, for a reader with greater familiarity, this work, aside from some of the 1980s information, will tell you little that you probably didn't know coming into this book. If you are in that situation of having familiarity, then don't waste your time or money with this book. You gain nothing. If you need a primer of some sort, this might be worth a listen (the reader is ok, but he doesn't add or detract from the text).
June 28, 2022
Weiner unwittingly--or maybe partially wittingly? Semi-wittingly?--falls victim to the fallacy (common among American media outlets, pundits, and even ordinary lay people) of equating (in geopolitical terms) the Russia of Vladimir Putin with the USSR of the Cold War.
The latter could credibly project power--economic, diplomatic, and military--across the entirety of planet Earth, crushing uprisings all across Eastern Europe for decades, occupying Afghanistan, and propping up allied regimes around the world. Meanwhile, the former could barely manage to squash a rebellion in Chechnya.
In 1991, at the time of the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Russia's economy was the same size as China's; the Russia of 2022 has an economy smaller than Italy's and about the same size as South Korea's. It is a petro-state, essentially a larger version of Saudi Arabia, with more people, more alcohol, nuclear weapons, a shrinking life expectancy, and about the same amount of military spending. That's right: regional power Saudi Arabia and make-believe superpower Russia both spend about the same amount annually on their militaries, which is to say, 13 times less than the United States.
Vladimir Putin is of course a menacing villain straight out of central casting; but it is important not to assume that because revelations about Russia's cyberwarfare and clandestine political warfare efforts coincided with the utter disaster of the Trump presidency that their effectiveness is somehow preternatural. Despite the conspicuous deference and cooperation that marked the Trump campaign's attitude towards Russia, in the final analysis James Comey played a far larger role in defeating Hillary Clinton and securing the Presidency for Trump than anything Putin ever did.
The latter could credibly project power--economic, diplomatic, and military--across the entirety of planet Earth, crushing uprisings all across Eastern Europe for decades, occupying Afghanistan, and propping up allied regimes around the world. Meanwhile, the former could barely manage to squash a rebellion in Chechnya.
In 1991, at the time of the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Russia's economy was the same size as China's; the Russia of 2022 has an economy smaller than Italy's and about the same size as South Korea's. It is a petro-state, essentially a larger version of Saudi Arabia, with more people, more alcohol, nuclear weapons, a shrinking life expectancy, and about the same amount of military spending. That's right: regional power Saudi Arabia and make-believe superpower Russia both spend about the same amount annually on their militaries, which is to say, 13 times less than the United States.
Vladimir Putin is of course a menacing villain straight out of central casting; but it is important not to assume that because revelations about Russia's cyberwarfare and clandestine political warfare efforts coincided with the utter disaster of the Trump presidency that their effectiveness is somehow preternatural. Despite the conspicuous deference and cooperation that marked the Trump campaign's attitude towards Russia, in the final analysis James Comey played a far larger role in defeating Hillary Clinton and securing the Presidency for Trump than anything Putin ever did.
April 20, 2022
Excellent book! Heavily informative and accessible, focused mainly on the foreign politics between the USA and Russia and their influence in the territories of their spheres of interest. Perhaps it could have included a bit more on the Russian side, but I understand the author has written strictly about fact checked material. Anyway, the book could still serve as a great weapon in the information war against all post-truths manufactured by the Russian propaganda machine and spread around the internet through the so-called "active measures" agenda. The last part, about the 2016 US presidential elections, is brilliantly delivered.
December 23, 2020
This review is based the first chapter of the book that sets the context for the rest of the material. I just could not get beyond that. Anyone who in 2020 (when the book was published) believes that the Russians "in 2016... helped elect a president [meaning Trump]" and the United States "fought the war on communism in the jungles of Vietnam" has got to be delusional. The chapter is full of fascinating observations the likes of how dare the Russians spy on the peaceful and innocent America to try to steal the design of the bomb that America had just dropped on the evil Japan and how dare the Russians be upset at the NATO expansion closer and closer to the Russian border. One has to wonder who paid for the publication of this trash. Must be the Russians in their attempt to discredit existence of intelligent life in the United States.
July 5, 2021
Having read his previous book on the history of the CIA, I found a lot of this redundant, and wished he had focused more on Russia nowadays.
March 12, 2022
Книга, която излезе съвсем навреме и е редно повечко наши "съграждани" да прочетат.
February 23, 2023
This book left me sad, discouraged, but better informed
I buy this knowledge with a terrible price, ha ha ha.
Tim Weiner is an award winning journalist and author. in addition to the National Book Award, Weiner won the 1988 Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting as an investigative reporter at The Philadelphia Inquirer, for his articles on the black budget spending at the Pentagon and the CIA. He now writes for the New York Times where he covers national security and intelligence.
-And this guy pulls no punches when he calls Trump a Russian stooge.
But first you are treated to the entire history of the CIA and a litany of American foreign policy fiascos that will grind away at your soul.
I jumped right into this book after finishing The Guns of August, and the exact same themes of arrogance, refusal to acknowledge any facts that disagree with your assumptions, and a belief that when we win all will be made right -that lead Europe into a pointless tragedy that killed millions are repeated here. but this time it's US doing the disastrous.
Long story short, Putin got us good. After a string of cyber warfare attacks that went unanswered and many unreported, Putin meddled in the US presidential election of 2016. Whether that meddling made the difference, Trump was a faithful friend to Putin, degraded democracy around the world, and emboldened despots the world over.
...So no happy ending here.
I buy this knowledge with a terrible price, ha ha ha.
Tim Weiner is an award winning journalist and author. in addition to the National Book Award, Weiner won the 1988 Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting as an investigative reporter at The Philadelphia Inquirer, for his articles on the black budget spending at the Pentagon and the CIA. He now writes for the New York Times where he covers national security and intelligence.
-And this guy pulls no punches when he calls Trump a Russian stooge.
But first you are treated to the entire history of the CIA and a litany of American foreign policy fiascos that will grind away at your soul.
I jumped right into this book after finishing The Guns of August, and the exact same themes of arrogance, refusal to acknowledge any facts that disagree with your assumptions, and a belief that when we win all will be made right -that lead Europe into a pointless tragedy that killed millions are repeated here. but this time it's US doing the disastrous.
Long story short, Putin got us good. After a string of cyber warfare attacks that went unanswered and many unreported, Putin meddled in the US presidential election of 2016. Whether that meddling made the difference, Trump was a faithful friend to Putin, degraded democracy around the world, and emboldened despots the world over.
...So no happy ending here.
November 14, 2020
A real education into Russian and American history
I really appreciated the strong timeline of how the Soviet Union & Russia alongside the US have been waging political warfare since 1947. From misadventures in Africa to the controversy of expanding NATO to the rise of Putin, then Trump you’re going to learn things here.
Also well was said history may not repeat but history sure rhymes. The theme of the road to hell is... repeats over and over again. Ditto how making deals with autocratic regimes keeps costing money & more.
This book is a must read to understand both current events and our history.
I really appreciated the strong timeline of how the Soviet Union & Russia alongside the US have been waging political warfare since 1947. From misadventures in Africa to the controversy of expanding NATO to the rise of Putin, then Trump you’re going to learn things here.
Also well was said history may not repeat but history sure rhymes. The theme of the road to hell is... repeats over and over again. Ditto how making deals with autocratic regimes keeps costing money & more.
This book is a must read to understand both current events and our history.
December 23, 2020
Journalist Tim Weiner tracks the course of the Cold War from 1945 to 2020, not so much in the usual headlines and major events, but in the events of what he terms political warfare - especially the propaganda battles and clandestine efforts during the communist years and the Putin years. And it is pretty frightening. I went from being appalled at some of what America did to match the Soviets to frustrated that our efforts have almost ceased while Putin has stepped his up again and again. It's an interesting look at a history I grew up in but knew only a little about.
November 19, 2020
This was a fascinating account of political relations between 2 super powers long at odds. The final chapter was downright chilling to read. Nothing about this book will make you feel better about the current climate unfortunately, but the information does ease some uncertainty. Thank you to the publisher for providing me with a drc available through edelweiss.
February 14, 2021
Every American needs to read this book if they want to understand US - Russia relations.
In the meantime, I need to wrap my head around how to best review this book... so much to think through and say.
In the meantime, I need to wrap my head around how to best review this book... so much to think through and say.
December 20, 2024
A page turner, Weiner has very little good to say about any US president he mentions, although his hatred of Trump is the most obvious. But don't read it to learn about the US president's, read it to learn about Russia. That's where you'll find the greatest value.
June 4, 2025
Not the most propulsive read but a thorough history of US-Russia relations over the past 60+ years. I learned a lot about both countries’ clandestine efforts in particular. It was also a good refresher on some historical events I already knew a little about.
March 5, 2021
This is a book about 75 years of cold war between Russia and the US. There's disinformation, misinformation, false information/propaganda, lies, covert operations, political assassinations etc. There were so many names of people with their multiple titles in numerous years and countries. The story kept going forward and back in time which was confusing. It was difficult to keep all this information straight. It got better toward the end, or maybe I was just more familiar with the more recent participants. Russian leaders became expert at social media manipulation so they could put someone they wanted in the White House, and that person played right along and enjoyed their help. They also achieved the divisiveness in the US that they wanted. This information should be read by everyone, but the delivery would reach more people if it was more cohesive for the less politically minded person.
January 29, 2026
if you were wondering why we’ve become so polarized in the past 20 years
This well crafted, well documented treatise provides a coherent and terrifying explanation. Most of us who are inclined to read Tim Weiner‘s books have open minds and attend to broader news sources and had some awareness of the phenomena he describes. This and his other books provide extensive background and detail I could not have imagined, but which make perfect sense and provide a clearer view of where we went wrong and where we are headed if we don’t get it right moving forward.
This well crafted, well documented treatise provides a coherent and terrifying explanation. Most of us who are inclined to read Tim Weiner‘s books have open minds and attend to broader news sources and had some awareness of the phenomena he describes. This and his other books provide extensive background and detail I could not have imagined, but which make perfect sense and provide a clearer view of where we went wrong and where we are headed if we don’t get it right moving forward.
May 26, 2021
Disappointing emotional book from the great author of Enemies: A History of the FBI and Legacy of Ashes: The history of the CIA.
The book is full of options and minimal facts. If Bush made a wrong decision, it’s because he is not intelligent, but Obama was tired and tired people make the terrible decision. If Hilarity is looking for dirt on Trump, she has a dossier. If Trump does the same, he is looking for kompromat. If Clinton was impeached by House and acquitted by Senate, names of 3 republicans were drugged in to shift the focus. If Trump was impeached by the house and acquitted by Senate, he got approval to continue laying.
I really like the books I mentioned above. They are full of facts, sources, and information. The Folly and the Glory is a propaganda book. I will need to read again the first two books, maybe I missed propaganda there too.
The book is full of options and minimal facts. If Bush made a wrong decision, it’s because he is not intelligent, but Obama was tired and tired people make the terrible decision. If Hilarity is looking for dirt on Trump, she has a dossier. If Trump does the same, he is looking for kompromat. If Clinton was impeached by House and acquitted by Senate, names of 3 republicans were drugged in to shift the focus. If Trump was impeached by the house and acquitted by Senate, he got approval to continue laying.
I really like the books I mentioned above. They are full of facts, sources, and information. The Folly and the Glory is a propaganda book. I will need to read again the first two books, maybe I missed propaganda there too.
November 9, 2020
This book gives a mind-boggling account of the Russian and American states' political warfare during and after the Cold War. Tim Weiner is a very credible source and has interviewed many prominent intelligence officials in the US, including former heads of the CIA. He explains how the Russians use disinformation and how they flooded social media and used other tactics to help Donald Trump win the 2016 election. The Russians are beating us in this game, and it is almost incomprehensible what tactics they use. They have many advantages, including a long history of ruthless leaders going back to the stars, a less open society without being constrained by the societal and political restraints, and Vladimir Putin is a former head of the KGB, very familiar with and unafraid to use any tactics.
March 19, 2022
Страхотна книга, проследяваща противпоставянето на КГБ и ЦРУ в годините от края на ВСВ до днес. Всички сме чували за дезинформацията и "троловете", но да прочетеш в детайли какво са успели да постигнат реално е изключително интересно и плашещо. Също така последните 50 страници от книгата са поставени над 400 референции към фактите изложени в книгата, което е много полезно и важно, защото всеки може да ги провери и не е нужно да вярва "на сляпо". Точно обратното на почти всички кафяви новини идващи от североизток.
June 15, 2020
A thorough, informative look at the history of political warfare between Russia and the United States. Both sides conducted "dirty tricks" against each other, for decades. It appeared that, with the collapse of the Soviet Union, that the United States had prevailed. However, it appears we let our guard down, and Putin has taken full advantage of our weakened position. Scary stuff, where we are now. I only hope that we can prevail.
April 21, 2021
Democrat propaganda promoting the Trump/Russia fiction. Nothing new about the Cold War. All either old news or fake news.
February 5, 2022
Informational and interesting up till the opinion of the author started to overpower the narrative.
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