After years of rapprochement, the relationship between Russia and the West is more strained now than it has ever been in the past 25 years. Putin´s motives, his reasons for seeking confrontation with the West, remain for many a mystery. Not for Mikhail Gorbachev. In this new work, Russia´s elder statesman draws on his wealth of knowledge and experience to reveal the development of Putin´s regime and the intentions behind it. He argues that in order to further his own personal power, Putin has corrupted the achievements of perestroika and created a system which offers no future for Russia. Faced with this, Gorbachev advocates a radical reform of politics and new fostering of pluralism and social democracy.