Putin, Putinism, and the Domestic Determinants of Russian Foreign Policy

Michael McFaul is Director of the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies; the Ken Olivier and Angela Nomellini Professor of International Studies in the Department of Political Science; and Peter and Helen Bing Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, all at Stanford University. He served five years in President Barack Obama's administration, first as Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Russian and Eurasian Affairs at the National Security Council at the White House (2009–12), and then as U.S. Ambassador to the Russian Federation (2012–14). His most recent book is From Cold War to Hot Peace: An American Ambassador in Putin's Russia (2018). The three cases of Russian intervention examined in this article took place after the author's return to Stanford University. But because some of the diplomacy surrounding these events occurred while he was serving in the Obama administration, it is important to note that the views expressed in this article are his alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Obama administration or the U.S. State Department.