The first-person account of an American intelligence officer working in Moscow for a billionaire investor during the privatization of the Russian economy and Vladimir Putin’s rise to power. The turbulent period following the dissolution of the Soviet Union was a pivotal moment in history, offering an incredible opportunity to reset East-West relations after seventy years of hostilities embodied by the Cold War. But something went awry. Russia’s brief flirtation with democracy was undermined by massive corruption, greed, weak institutions, and the blind ambition of a political leader seeking to restore Russia’s lost status as a global superpower. SPOILS OF WAR provides a unique window into the underlying political and economic factors enabling a small group of oligarchs to gain control of the country’s wealth and power before losing it all to an aspiring dictator. The book blends the perspective of Russia’s biggest foreign investor seeking huge profits with the observations and analysis of an intelligence officer assigned to protect his employer’s interests.