David Satter
Encyclopedia
David Satter is a former Moscow
correspondent and expert on Russia
and the Soviet Union
who wrote books about the decline and fall of the Soviet Union and the rise of post-Soviet Russia
.
and from Oxford University where he was a Rhodes Scholar. From 1976 to 1982, he was the Moscow correspondent of the Financial Times
in London
. He then became a special correspondent on Soviet affairs of The Wall Street Journal
. He is currently a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute
and a fellow of the Johns Hopkins University
School of Advanced International Studies. He has been a research fellow at the Hoover Institution
at Stanford University
and a visiting professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
.
Martin Sieff, writing in the Canadian National Post, wrote that Darkness at Dawn was
“Vivid, impeccably researched and truly frightening.” Angus Macqueen, writing in the Guardian, compared Darkness at Dawn to Putin’s Russia by Anna Politkovskaya. He wrote: “Both of these books underline the moral vacuum that the destruction of the Soviet Union has left.”
. He argued that this was part of a conspiracy to bring Putin to power. During testimony before the U.S. House of Representatives, Satter stated:
made by director Andrei Nekrasov
in 2004.
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
correspondent and expert on Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
and the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
who wrote books about the decline and fall of the Soviet Union and the rise of post-Soviet Russia
History of post-Soviet Russia
With the dissolution of the Soviet Union on 29 May 1991, the Russian Federation became an independent country.Russia was the largest of the fifteen republics that made up the Soviet Union, accounting for over 60% of the gross domestic product and over 50% of the Soviet population. Russians also...
.
Life and career
David Satter graduated from the University of ChicagoUniversity of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
and from Oxford University where he was a Rhodes Scholar. From 1976 to 1982, he was the Moscow correspondent of the Financial Times
Financial Times
The Financial Times is an international business newspaper. It is a morning daily newspaper published in London and printed in 24 cities around the world. Its primary rival is the Wall Street Journal, published in New York City....
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. He then became a special correspondent on Soviet affairs of The Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal is an American English-language international daily newspaper. It is published in New York City by Dow Jones & Company, a division of News Corporation, along with the Asian and European editions of the Journal....
. He is currently a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute
Hudson Institute
The Hudson Institute is an American think tank founded in 1961, in Croton-on-Hudson, New York, by futurist, military strategist, and systems theorist Herman Kahn and his colleagues at the RAND Corporation...
and a fellow of the Johns Hopkins University
Johns Hopkins University
The Johns Hopkins University, commonly referred to as Johns Hopkins, JHU, or simply Hopkins, is a private research university based in Baltimore, Maryland, United States...
School of Advanced International Studies. He has been a research fellow at the Hoover Institution
Hoover Institution
The Hoover Institution on War, Revolution and Peace is a public policy think tank and library founded in 1919 by then future U.S. president, Herbert Hoover, an early alumnus of Stanford....
at Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
and a visiting professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
The University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign is a large public research-intensive university in the state of Illinois, United States. It is the flagship campus of the University of Illinois system...
.
Post Soviet Russia
In the 1990s, David Satter wrote extensively about post-Soviet Russia. In an article in The Wall Street Journal Europe, April 2, 1997, he wrote: “When the Soviet Union fell… the moral impulse motivating the democratic movement had to become the basis of Russia’s political practices. The tragedy of the present situation is that Russian gangsters are cutting off this development before it has a chance to take root.”His books
David Satter is the author of three non-fiction books about Russia, Haunted Ground: Russia and the Communist Past (2011), Age of Delirium: the Decline and Fall of the Soviet Union (1996) and Darkness at Dawn: the Rise of the Russian Criminal State (2003).Reviews
Jack Matlock, the former U.S. ambassador in Moscow, writing in The Washington Post, said that Age of Delirium was “spellbinding” and gave “a visceral sense of what it felt like to be trapped in the communist system.” The Virginia Quarterly Review wrote, “The brilliance of this book lies in its eccentricity and in the author’s profound knowledge of and sympathy for the suffering of the Russian people under communism.”Martin Sieff, writing in the Canadian National Post, wrote that Darkness at Dawn was
“Vivid, impeccably researched and truly frightening.” Angus Macqueen, writing in the Guardian, compared Darkness at Dawn to Putin’s Russia by Anna Politkovskaya. He wrote: “Both of these books underline the moral vacuum that the destruction of the Soviet Union has left.”
The Russian apartment bombings
In his book, Darkness at Dawn, Satter charged that the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) was responsible for the bombings of Russian apartment buildings in 1999 that claimed 300 lives and provided the justification for a second Chechen WarChechen War
There have been two Chechen Wars:* 1940–1944 insurgency in Chechnya* First Chechen War, 1994–1996* Second Chechen War, 1999–2009...
. He argued that this was part of a conspiracy to bring Putin to power. During testimony before the U.S. House of Representatives, Satter stated:
Documentary films
A documentary film is being made based on David Satter's book Age of Delirium. It is expected to completed by December, 2007. David Satter also appears in the documentary "Disbelief" about the Russian apartment bombingsRussian apartment bombings
The Russian apartment bombings were a series of explosions that hit four apartment blocks in the Russian cities of Buynaksk, Moscow, and Volgodonsk in September 1999, killing 293 people and injuring 651. The explosions occurred in Buynaksk on 4 September, Moscow on 9 and 13 September, and...
made by director Andrei Nekrasov
Andrei Nekrasov
Andrei Lvovich Nekrasov is a Russian film and TV director from Saint Petersburg.Andrei Nekrasov studied acting and directing at the State Institute for Theater and Film in his native Saint Petersburg. He studied comparative literature and philosophy at the University of Paris, taking a master's...
in 2004.
Books
- David Satter. Age of Delirium: The Decline and Fall of the Soviet Union, Yale University PressYale University PressYale University Press is a book publisher founded in 1908 by George Parmly Day. It became an official department of Yale University in 1961, but remains financially and operationally autonomous....
, 2001, ISBN 0-300-08705-5 - David Satter. Darkness at Dawn: The Rise of the Russian Criminal State. Yale University PressYale University PressYale University Press is a book publisher founded in 1908 by George Parmly Day. It became an official department of Yale University in 1961, but remains financially and operationally autonomous....
, 2003, ISBN 0-300-09892-8 - David Satter. Haunted Ground: Russia and the Communist Past. Yale University PressYale University PressYale University Press is a book publisher founded in 1908 by George Parmly Day. It became an official department of Yale University in 1961, but remains financially and operationally autonomous....
, 2007, ISBN 0-300-11145-2