Today’s Russia is vastly different from the empire we tried to contain fifty years ago.  It’s a place no longer marked by colorless uniformity and severe deprivation.  Quite the contrary, today we find a land of great contrasts and contradictions.  And we also find a nation recently flooded with petro-dollars.

If the Soviets of old had been able to tap into that kind of resource-driven wealth, the Cold War would have never ended.  And the rules of engagement, even history itself, would have been very different.

The fact is that Russia today represents a greater threat to the security of the world than it ever did in the days of Cold War bipolarity.  And our old adversaries are taking great pains to reconstruct an empire, one that would include their strong presence, as was once the case, in the Middle East. 

Daniel Silva’s story is told against this backdrop, and it has a ripped-from-the-headlines feel.  Readers encounter stories that are reminiscent of recent real-life dramas such as the intriguing murder of former FSB Colonel Aleksandr Litvinenko, who died while investigating the death of Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya.  The new Russia is starting to strongly resemble the old Soviet Union - only with nicer cars. 

Along the way, the novel takes the reader on a jet-set paced ride to places like Saint-Tropez, Courchevel, Paris, London – but back time and again to Moscow.  All the while it tells a cautionary tale, one that should be widely heard these days.  It’s not just the Islamists we should be watching – and watching out for – we need to keep our eye on that big old bear roaming once again in the global woods.

As Russia becomes stronger and stronger, and as its leaders tighten the reins more and more on all aspects of national and international life, the world becomes a more dangerous place with each passing day.  Vladimir Putin and his puppet, Dmitry Medvedev, have an agenda.  They have empires in their brains.  And, if the past is any indicator of the future (of course it is!), they will also play by a sinister set of rules - the most important one being: the ends justify the means.

When it comes to characters out of Cold War literature and media, I can’t help but resonate with something said by Boris Badenov.  No, he wasn’t a KGB leader.  Nor was he ever on the wall overlooking Red Square as the missiles rode by on May Day. 

Boris was a diminutive fellow with a distinct accent who, along with his wife and side-kick, Natasha, tried to foil the good guys, Rocket J. Squirrel and Bullwinkle the Moose.  He had a memorable saying I thought about as I read Daniel Silva’s book, Moscow Rules.  It came to mind every time one of the bad guys did something rotten.  In fact, what Mr. Badenov had to say should be heeded by both candidates for the presidency this year.