The Oligarchs: Wealth and Power in the New Russia. . - Political booknotes: russian toward capitalism - book review

Washington Monthly, March, 2002 by Derek Chollet

For those interested in the future of this puzzled and puzzling country, Hoffman's book could not have come at a better time. His story ends with the rise of Vladimir Putin, who has defined his presidency by discrediting the oligarch era. In fact, in late January, just weeks before this book was published, the Kremlin forced TV-6, Russia's last independent national television network, off the air. Owned by Boris Berezovsky, TV-6 had been a constant thorn in Putin's side, and its suppression is considered by many to be the final nail in the oligarchs' coffin. But Russia's problems are far from solved. Tragically, by eliminating the oligarchs through undermining the freedom of the press, Putin has simply replaced one ill with another.

DEREK CHOLLET is a Bosch Public Policy Fellow at the American Academy in Berlin.