Russia Upside Down

“Weisberg clearly knows his stuff…Perceptive insights into a consistently dysfunctional international relationship.”
 —Kirkus Reviews, starred

“Joe Weisberg uses his own story, and his deep knowledge of all things Russian, to argue that we need a new understanding of our oldest adversary. What a brilliant book!”
 —Malcolm Gladwell

“How dare you, Joe Weisberg, make me rethink my comfortable loathing of the Russians? I spent my entire career fighting these guys and saw close up how dirty they fight. But do we fight any cleaner? Your book convinces me that both sides are rational actors pursuing defensible goals. Putin and Biden can find common ground if they don’t let outdated biases and antagonisms get in their way. Sign me up, Joe, for not wanting a Second Cold War. The first one was bad enough.”—James M. Olson, former chief of CIA Counterintelligence and author of To Catch a Spy: The Art of Counterintelligence

“Joseph Weisberg’s crusade against groupthink, which drives the United States and Russia into another Cold War, is truly an act of bravery.”—Andrey Bezrukov (AKA Donald Heathfield), former Russian intelligence officer serving as an “illegal” in the United States, 1999–2010, and current professor, Moscow State University of International Relations

“I spent twenty-eight years as a CIA officer, working to understand and operate effectively in the world. Russia Upside Down hit and intrigued me intellectually and made me look at foreign affairs through a different lens.”—Darrell M. Blocker, former chief of the CIA’s Africa Division and Deputy Director of the Counterterrorism Center, and current COO, Mosaic Security

“Fans of The Americans, readers interested in U.S.-Russia policy, and anyone wishing to learn more about the topic will enjoy this insightful, thought-provoking book.”—Library Journal

“Weisberg offers a refreshing perspective on the tense relationship between the two countries throughout his work.”—KCRW’s Scheer Intelligence