Poverty and scarcity are actually very good for totalitarian societies. They maintain that sense of mobilization that's essential for totalitarian societies. — Masha Gessen Copy Share Image
Every time I talk to somebody about Putin, it's like, 'But isn't he vastly popular?' Is that really the most important question?… — Masha Gessen Copy Share Image
“It all fit. The love of power, the focus on Russia to the exclusion of the rest of the world—with an exception… — Masha Gessen Copy Share Image
When totalitarian regimes are established, they at least have the illusion of the single-minded purpose. But once they establish the stature that's… — Masha Gessen Copy Share Image
Putin set out to build a mafia state. He didn't set out to build a totalitarian regime. But he was building his… — Masha Gessen Copy Share Image
I think that Russia was like a lot of other countries, a lot of empires, in being a tyranny up until the… — Masha Gessen Copy Share Image
“every totalitarian regime forms a type of human being on whom it relies for its stability. The shaping of the New Man… — Masha Gessen Copy Share Image
There's this American pretense, which is the pretense of the journalist with the view from nowhere - which has somehow morphed into the journalist… — Masha Gessen Copy Share
Pussy Riot have certainly changed some people's assumptions about the role of political art and the relationship between the intelligentsia and the church. That's… — Masha Gessen Copy Share
Trump, like Putin, has a demonstrably thin skin and short temper when it comes to being criticized by journalists. — Masha Gessen Copy Share
You risk everything if you so much as join a legal protest demonstration in Russia. It raises the stakes. — Masha Gessen Copy Share
Donald Trump creates word salads. And that is awful to language, because we try to parse out what he's saying and try to find… — Masha Gessen Copy Share
It is the first time since 1993 that Russians have come out into the streets without an explicit permission from the government to do… — Masha Gessen Copy Share
I think Donald Trump was brought to power by Americans. They voted for him. — Masha Gessen Copy Share
In the 1990s, there was a lot of reform, and there was a lot of forward movement on a lot of fronts in Russia.… — Masha Gessen Copy Share
Poverty and scarcity are actually very good for totalitarian societies. They maintain that sense of mobilization that's essential for totalitarian societies. — Masha Gessen Copy Share
I think that Putin's strategy has been throwing a lot of money, fairly haphazardly, at a lot of projects aimed at disrupting Western relations… — Masha Gessen Copy Share
Both Trump and Putin use language primarily to communicate not facts or opinions but power: it's not what the words mean that matters but… — Masha Gessen Copy Share
I worked both as a Russian journalist and an American journalist and ran a bunch of magazines in Moscow over the course of about… — Masha Gessen Copy Share
I have no doubt that there are Russian efforts to disturb the fabric of American democracy, but they're disruption efforts. They're troublemaking efforts. They're… — Masha Gessen Copy Share
For years I was the only publicly out gay person who was not a full-time gay activist: my position as a quasi-foreigner gave me… — Masha Gessen Copy Share
