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The Russia Hand: A Memoir of Presidential Diplomacy Reprint Edition

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Strobe Talbott (Author)
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Strobe Talbott (Author)
3.9 out of 5 stars 13 customer reviews
ISBN-13: 978-0812968460
ISBN-10: 0812968468
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Product Details

  • Paperback: 512 pages
  • Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks; Reprint edition (May 13, 2003)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0812968468
  • ISBN-13: 978-0812968460
  • Product Dimensions: 6.1 x 1.1 x 9.2 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,182,284 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Top Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 starsSubtle Diplomacy
By John Van Wagner on September 1, 2004
Format: Paperback Verified Purchase
The devil is in the details, but the "angels" call the shots (and in this story the "angels" are no angels). This is the short version of Strobe Talbott's exhaustive, intimate memoir of the transformation of US-Russian relations during the tumultuous 1990s. Bereft of the old adversarial structures of the cold war, and lacking any type of transitional plan, the diplomatic establishments of Washington and Moscow were compelled to feel their way through a stubborn morass of suspicion and ignorance and emerge with something like a policy of institutionalized cooperation.

By this account and many others it was a tough row to hoe. The meat of the book covers the period of Clinton/Yeltsin diplomacy between 1992 and 2000, a time when the Russian nation was reeling from the collapse of the Soviet Union and the social upheaval brought on by free market economic "shock treatment." National pride had suffered a series of body blows as the Soviet Empire fell apart and lost its coveted place as the "other" major power on the international stage.

In 1992, while publicly basking in cold war "victory", the US political establishment was inwardly wringing its hands over how to handle its volatile, battered, erstwhile enemy. Internally in Russia political wars continued to rage among nationalists, communists, and liberal market reformers, and it was nowhere near apparent that the nation might not suffer a political hijacking or economic meltdown which would lead the nation back down a path of despotism and isolation. This was a moment of limitless opportunity and unfathomable risk for the US and the world. The stakes were huge, and the outcome unknowable.

Enter the diplomats. Under the direction and tutelage of Mr.Read more ›
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1.0 out of 5 starsSkips the delicate questions
By Fredo Arias King on September 7, 2002
Format: Hardcover
Strobe Talbott's latest book does not add much to the understanding of Russia or the role played by the Clinton administration (of which Talbott was its most senior Russia hand) towards that country.
Talbott will not be remembered by the Sovietological community for those things he describes in his book, which seem superfluous and self-glorifying. He will be mostly remembered for three events. The first is the billions of dollars wasted of U.S. aid money that he personally oversaw to Russia. The government of Viktor Chernomyrdin (whose personal fortune is estimated at over 10 billion dollars) squandered much U.S. aid money yet Talbott ignored the many warning signs and continued to advocate lending and aid to the Chernomyrdin government with the excuse that Russia is too big to lose.
Second, Talbott will be remembered for the disdainful way in which he treated the genuine Russian democrats that could have given that country a chance, while assisting former communist officials. Talbott famously under-cut the Russian reformers in 1993 when he quipped that "Russia needs more therapy and less shock," referring to the program of "shock therapy" that the reform-minded finance minister Fyodorov was trying to implement. Fyodorov later mentioned that Talbott had "stabbed us in the back." Later that year, the head of the largest pro-democracy movement in Russia, Galina Starovoitova, pleaded with Talbott for assistance in convincing a foreign TV star popular in Russia, to appear in commercials to help the democrats in the December 1993 parliamentary elections. Talbott refused to even return her calls. However, both the U.S. ambassador in Belarus (David Swartz) and the democratic leader of that country at that time (Stanislau Shushkevich) accused Talbott of using U.S.Read more ›
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5.0 out of 5 starsDealing with Russia after the Cold War
By James Tudor on August 23, 2002
Format: Hardcover
Strobe Talbott's The Russia Hand is a comprehensive insider account of US relations with an emerging democratic Russian after the collapse of the Soviet Union. The book is also an explicit record of how diplomacy actually works.
I highly recommend this book for an insight and review of American FP in the 1990s.Talbott provides insights into the particulars of the many negotiations and personal bonds (or channels) that transpired between these two former foes. Talbott explores the numerous problems that divided the US and the new Russian Republic in the 1990s; including NATO enlargement, national missile defense, adapting to capitalism and democracy, wars of the former Yugoslavia and Kosovo.
This book makes great reading. Not only is it a definitive political text - it's funny! Through a motley cast of characters (Bill Clinton, Yeltsin, various negotiators) and the events that they survived Talbott gives a diplomatic thriller an air of high comedy. At times Talbott's depiction Boris Yeltsin borders on caricature.
To sum it all up, I am positive that anyone interested in Foreign Policy, IR, history, or even an unfortunate student looking for a subject for a book review will highly enjoy The Russia Hand. This book is a necessary read for those who wish to understand how the high-stakes game of diplomacy works in practice. And the account is delievered by one of the major players - Strobe Talbott.
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4.0 out of 5 starsRead to understand diplomatic delicacies.
By Guy Cien on November 28, 2005
Format: Paperback
I just finished the book about 15 minutes ago, so this is surely a bit of "instant feedback."

Strobe Talbott writes vividly, with candor and with a justified and well-earned political slant that keeps the reader engaged as a would be a thrill-seeking thirty-something reading a Clancy novel (I am borrowing another reviewer's analogy; by the way, this is way better than Clancy).

For anyone interested in the delicate nature of scrutinizing national security decisions, this is a must read. It offers an 'inside the Situation Room' look at the government of the United States at work. While concentrated solely on issues of the US-Russian genre, he successfully weaves other world and domestic events into the book to give the reader a sense of pace, setting and perspective.

He adequately, though unglamourously, bookends the story with the lead-in (Bush 41) to the Clinton years and the moving away from (Bush 43) a contentious, far from self-effacing eight years of transcontinental relations.

The meat of the book, a study of how presidential decisions are made through and pressed by deputy level and below members of both governments, showcases a 'half-dozen' big ticket shows that played out in the nineties, e.g. Kosovo, NATO expansion, Bosnia, and so on. With great and intense detail, Talbott recounts many and varied emotional meetings held between the world's most prominent governments.

Though certainly not faultless, this book is one of the better memoirs to come from the eight years of Clinton. It is precise, pointed and proves that the show must and will go on in American diplomacy.

Talbott's book is captivating and addictive.Read more ›
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 starsGood insight as to what goes on in a politician's ...

Good insight as to what goes on in a politician's mind in Russia. Easy to follow even without a deep knowledge of Russia or the Soviet Union

Published 8 months ago by Julio L. Garcia MD
5.0 out of 5 starsIntresting Book into the Background of the Poltical World

I have read this book almost 6 months ago, so i cannot cite any specific passages from the book, but i do feel this book was well written and was very very intresting. Read more

Published on March 2, 2004 by Drink more beer!
4.0 out of 5 starsa very useful and well-written book containing many insights

Contrary to several other reviewers on this site who are rather critical, I found this a very useful and insightful book. Read more

Published on April 25, 2003 by Ben de Jong
2.0 out of 5 starsInteresting but aimless

I have gotten nothing out of reading this book. I am currently a student interested in diplomatic relations having some experience working in the White House and expected a down... Read more

Published on December 5, 2002 by Thomas G. Coale
4.0 out of 5 starsIts NOT only the economy (um, stupid :)

I actually read this book to be able to write this review, having happened upon this page while surfing the net. Read more

Published on August 31, 2002 by Joe Lunchbucket
3.0 out of 5 starsbiased account

Although a great account of a tumuluous period in Russian history, the book is biased and unsympathetic to other independent states that emerged from the ruins of the Soviet... Read more

Published on July 31, 2002
5.0 out of 5 starsInteresting - Informative

I am only seventeen and I have a Russian significant other. I didn't know anything about the country itself and wanted to learn more. Read more

Published on July 17, 2002 by DJ_2004
5.0 out of 5 starsCrossing to Safety

Either hilarious or terrifying, or both, depending on your mood -- this book stunned me with its revelations about how close Russia came to blowing up in our faces in the 90's. Read more

Published on May 24, 2002
5.0 out of 5 starsONE MAN'S VIEW OF A LEADERLESS BANKRUPT COUNTRY

"The Russia Hand" is a terrific example of a slight book that misses the big story.To read Strobe Talbott's book, one seeks in vain for the big factor of the 1990s-the fact that... Read more

Published on May 22, 2002

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