“Spies: The Epic Intelligence War Between East vs. West” – with Calder Walton

Summary

Calder Walton (Website, Twitter) joins Andrew (Twitter; LinkedIn) to discuss the 100-year intelligence war between the United States and Russia. Calder is the author of the new book, SPIES. 

*EXTENDED SHOW NOTES & FULL TRANSCRIPT HERE*

What You’ll Learn

Intelligence

• The epic clash of intelligence systems
• Russia’s assassination program then and now
• The roots of Putinism 
• China as “the Soviet Union on steroids”

Reflections

• Cold War 2.0
• Could it have been otherwise?

And much, much more …

Quotes of the Week

My conclusion, unfortunately, Andrew, is that looking at this large sweep of history that we have, not so much a Putin problem today, but a Russia problem. And the Russia problem has been persistent over a hundred years, which is why it makes me very cautious about speculation … Unfortunately, it seems to me that the Putin and the people he surrounds himself with in the Kremlin are all cut from this very similar cloth as he is. 

Resources 

SURFACE SKIM

*Headline Resource*

• SPIES: The Epic Intelligence War Between East and West, Calder Walton (Simon & Schuster, 2023)

*SpyCasts*

• Ukraine & the Alliance with NATO’s Assistant Secretary General for Intelligence David Cattler (2023)
• Ukraine & Intelligence: One Year On with Shane Harris (2023)
• Becoming a Russian Intelligence Officer with Janosh Neumann (2022)
• The Spies Who Came in From the Cold with Chris Costa and John Quattrocki at the Pritzker Military Museum & Library in Chicago (2022)
• Dealing with Russia with Counterintelligence Legend Jim Olson (2022)
• CIA Legend Jack Devine on Countering Russian Aggression (2012)

*Beginner Resources*

• Putin’s Revisionist History of Russia and Ukraine, I. Chotiner, New Yorker (2022) [Short article]
• Has Putin's war failed and what does Russia want?, P. Kirby, BBC (2023) [Short article]
• The Cold War Explained in 15 Minutes, YouTube (2021) [15 min. video]

*EXTENDED SHOW NOTES & FULL TRANSCRIPT HERE*

DEEPER DIVE

Books

• Russian Intelligence, K. Riehle (NIU, 2022)
• Putin’s People, C. Belton (William Collins, 2021)
• Between Two Fires, J. Yaffa (Duggan Books, 2020)
• The New Cold War, E. Lucas (St. Martin’s Griffin, 2014)

Primary Sources 

• The Putin Files, CBS (n.d.)
• Memorandum of Conversations (Rise of Putin)
• Clinton with Putin (2000)
• Clinton with Putin (2000)
• Clinton with Yeltsin (1999)
• Clinton with Yeltsin (1999)
• Clinton with Putin (1999)
• Madelaine Albright with Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov (1999)
• Clinton with Putin (1999)
• Clinton with Yeltsin (1999)

Oral Histories

• U.S. Ambassadors to Moscow
• John Huntsman (2017-2019)
• John F. Tefft (2014-2017)
• Michael McFaul (2012-2014)
• John Beryle (2008-2012)
• Alexander Vershbow (2001-2005)
• James F. Collins (1997-2001)
• Thomas R. Pickering (1993-1996)
• Jack F. Matlock (1987-1991)

*Wildcard Resource*

• Putin Strikes: The Coming War for Eastern Europe
• A two-player board game where one commands the Kremlin’s forces and the other an international polyglot force. Trippy or what?

*EXTENDED SHOW NOTES & FULL TRANSCRIPT HERE*

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