text: Clinton's old friend and key Russia advisor provides insight on a number foreign policy topics as they evolve. As deputy secretary of state, his accounts provide personal, scholarly and practical accounts. The reader might determine both that Talbott was an invaluable resource as the post-Cold War era evolved, and that in the end, Clinton was his own "Russia Hand."
   
   The primary theme of the book is the relationship between Clinton and Russian President Boris Yeltsin. As they address issues such as NATO expansion, the Balkans, economic difficulties, and each president's own personal troubles, a number of lessons emerge. First, great power politics takes place between human beings, not merely among structural or organizational frameworks. Second, the blending of idealism and realism is thorough and complex, they are not either-or options. Third, political, military, economic, domestic and international issues all impact each other, often in surprising ways. Fourth, watch out for the u in trying to explain policy making: in the generic Y=Ax+By+Cz+u, that u (for unexplained/unexpected) can often play a large role. 
   
   The Russia Hand is valuable to students of foreign policy, Russia and U.S.-Russia relations, and the emergence of the post-Cold War era. 
  
  