Vladimir Putin just announced, to the surprise of no one, that he will run for reelection as President of Russia. In her January/February 2018 Atlantic cover story, Julia Ioffe writes that Americans misunderstand the man ruling the former Soviet empire: he’s not a master tactician playing three-dimensional chess, he’s a gambler who won big.

"Over the past year, Russian hackers have become the stuff of legend in the United States," Julia writes. "But most Russians don’t recognize the Russia portrayed in this story." What do they see that we don't? How does America look right now from their vantage point? And what does Vladimir Putin ultimately want? Julia joins our hosts, along with Atlantic global editor Kathy Gilsinan, to discuss.

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Links

– “What Putin Really Wants” (Julia Ioffe, January/February 2018 Issue)

– “Vladimir Putin, Action Man” (Alan Taylor, September 13, 2011)

– “How the Kremlin Tried to Rig the Olympics, and Failed” (Julia Ioffe, December 6, 2017)

– “It Took Two to Make Russian Meddling Effective” (Julia Ioffe, June 23, 2017)

– “Putin’s Inauguration: Satire and Violence” (Julia Ioffe, The New Yorker, May 7, 2012)

– "Why Do They Stay?" (Hilzoy, Obsidian Wings, April 10, 2009)

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