Kyle Mills Red War
b'Kyle Mills talks about his new Vince Flynn/Mitch Rapp novel "Red War".\\n\\nIn recent years, a number of extremely dangerous world leaders have managed to increase their already considerable power. Some are busy tightening their grip on their countries like Recep Erdogan in Turkey or President Xi Jinping in China. Others, like Kim Jong-un in North Korea, already have uncontested control but are increasing their military capability. And finally, in a class by himself, is Vladimir Putin\\u2014a man who combines the dominance of the Kims with the military might of China.\\n\\nFor a while, I\\u2019ve been pondering what would happen if a modern dictator like Putin became physically or mentally ill. How far would he go to prevent the loss of his position? Would anyone in his inner circle have the courage to push back? And what would the rest of the world risk to rein him in?\\n\\nMany of today\\u2019s dictators can\\u2019t just step down and trust that their replacement will protect them from the enemies they\\u2019ve made. Losing their edge\\u2014even for a moment\\u2014can be a matter of life or death. One moment of weakness and they could end up like Nicolae Ceausescu or Saddam Hussein.\\n\\nOf all the world\\u2019s dictators, Vladimir Putin worries me the most. Credible reports suggest that he became obsessed with the gruesome videos of Muammar Gaddafi\\u2019s death, watching them over and over again. The older he gets, the more consumed he becomes with the idea that his reign might end with his body being dragged through the streets of Moscow.\\n\\nWith Putin as my inspiration, I started to scheme. If he became gravely ill, how would he continue to prevent his political opponents from rising up? How could he impede the foreign intelligence agencies looking to take advantage of his weakness? Who could he trust to protect him as he is transformed from de facto czar to wounded animal?\\n\\nIn my mind, there\\u2019s nothing someone like Vladimir Putin wouldn\\u2019t do to maintain his position\\u2014murder every Russian politician not loyal to him, go to war with America and NATO, or even use his nuclear arsenal.\\n\\nFacing death on multiple fronts, he\\u2019d have nothing to lose.\\n\\n--- \\n\\nSupport this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/steve-richards/support'