Thomas Kent is the guest this week on The Cognitive Crucible, the podcast of the Information Professionals Association, discussing his new book, How Russia Loses: Hubris and Miscalculation in Putin’s Kremlin.

In addition to the print publication, Jamestown Foundation is offering the book  as a free download.

During this episode, Tom Kent returns to the Cognitive Crucible to discuss his latest book: How Russia Loses: Hubris and Miscalculation in Putin’s Kremlin. Vladimir Putin’s efforts to build influence abroad have succeeded in many places, leading some to see him as a master tactician whose skills are practically unbeatable. How Russia Loses takes a more skeptical approach, arguing that Russian influence operations have also been plagued by overconfidence and misjudgments, often repeating themselves in case after case. Thomas Kent’s book looks at six case studies where Russian fortunes suffered temporary or long-term reversals, and the reasons for those setbacks – from Russia’s own weaknesses to nimble responses by pro-democracy actors. The book spans Russian operations in Ukraine, Ecuador, South Africa and North Macedonia, as well as Moscow’s efforts to promote the Nordstream 2 pipeline and its Sputnik COVID vaccine. Kent offers an extensive analysis of common threads that have weakened Russian influence operations, and how the West can use this knowledge to respond more effectively to future efforts by Moscow.