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Charles Hecker @charleshecker.bsky.social · Apr 13

The control and use of language in the book is so artful. I think that’s one of the elements that makes it work so well.

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Charles Hecker @charleshecker.bsky.social · Apr 10

I can’t break the nasty habit. Ditching cigarettes (20 years ago) was easier.

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Charles Hecker @charleshecker.bsky.social · Apr 10

👋🏻👋🏻👋🏻! It’s just *such* a good book. So glad you’re enjoying it. I’m here, but finding it hard to juggle two accounts. Ugh. 🙃

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Charles Hecker @charleshecker.bsky.social · Mar 7

📖🎉 Big book news! Zero Sum: The Arc of International Business in Russia, is an Editors' Choice in the @nytimes.com this week. Zero Sum is out the US w/ @oxunipress.bsky.social. @hurstpublishers.bsky.social @benhnoble.bsky.social

6 New Books We Recommend This Week www.nytimes.com/2025/03/06/b...

6 New Books We Recommend This Week

www.nytimes.com

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Charles Hecker @charleshecker.bsky.social · Mar 6

I am hugely grateful for this thoughtful and wonderfully written review of Zero Sum in The Tablet. As companies prepare to re-enter Russia, read what it was like when they entered 30 years ago - and evacuated 3 years ago. @hurstpublishers.bsky.social @oxunipress.bsky.social @benhnoble.bsky.social

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Charles Hecker @charleshecker.bsky.social · Mar 5

What an honour for Zero Sum
to be reviewed in @foreignaffairs.com and by none other than Maria Lipman, whose work I have always admired. www.foreignaffairs.com/reviews/zero... @hurstpublishers.bsky.social @oxunipress.bsky.social @benhnoble.bsky.social

Zero Sum: The Arc of International Business in Russia

Hecker speaks with dozens of Western business executives, bankers, and financiers who reaped immense profits in the Russian market after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

www.foreignaffairs.com

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Charles Hecker @charleshecker.bsky.social · Mar 5

So grateful for the stewardship of @hurstpublishers.bsky.social and @michaeldwyer.bsky.social as Zero Sum gains recognition from reviews in publications like the @financialtimes.com and the @nytimes.com ⬇️

Hurst Publishers @hurstpublishers.bsky.social · Mar 5

‘#ZeroSum is a smart, often colorful book, enlivened by the grim smirk of someone who has intimate knowledge of how the everyday #Russian #economy really works.’

Read the review of #ZeroSum by @charleshecker.bsky.social in @nytimes.com👇
www.nytimes.com/2025/03/04/b...

Book Review: ‘Zero Sum,’ by Charles Hecker

As the Trump administration pushes for renewed business ties with Russia, a new book looks back at the companies that helped prop up illiberalism in the country.

www.nytimes.com

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Charles Hecker @charleshecker.bsky.social · Mar 4

Zero Sum's launch day in the US is accompanied by this wonderful review in the @nytimes.com by David Kortava of @foreignaffairs.com Zero Sum is available via @oxfordunipress.bsky.social and @hurstpublishers.bsky.social @benhnoble.bsky.social www.nytimes.com/2025/03/04/b...

Book Review: ‘Zero Sum,’ by Charles Hecker

As the Trump administration pushes for renewed business ties with Russia, a new book looks back at the companies that helped prop up illiberalism in the country.

www.nytimes.com

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Charles Hecker @charleshecker.bsky.social · Mar 4

It was such a pleasure to work on this creative project with @literaryhub.bsky.social If you want to understand contemporary Russia, rewind a few years - and then a few decades - to learn the most.

Lit Hub @literaryhub.bsky.social · Mar 4

@charleshecker.bsky.social recommends nonfiction books that explain modern Russia by Joshua Yaffa, Svetlana Alexievich, David Remnick, and more.

Invasions, Empires, Political Bromances: Five Nonfiction Books That Explain Modern Russia

Shortly before my first business trip to Nigeria, I asked a group of colleagues—all learned West Africa analysts—to recommend a few books that would familiarize me with the powerhouse African natio…

buff.ly

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Charles Hecker @charleshecker.bsky.social · Mar 4

Huge thanks to @joshuachuminski.bsky.social and the CSPC for being such gracious hosts today and providing such a fantastic platform to discuss my book. Dramatic change is afoot around the world; being in DC at a time like this is… electrifying (in a very complex way).

Joshua C Huminski @joshuachuminski.bsky.social · Mar 4

Author @charleshecker.bsky.social joined me at CSPC today to discuss his fascinating & timely new book “Zero Sum” (@hurstpublishers.bsky.social) about the role of international business in Russia’s economy & what the future could hold for the return of Western companies to the country.

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Reposted by Charles Hecker

Andrew Mueller @andrewmueller.bsky.social · Feb 26

Latest Daily on Monocle Radio. @terrystiastny.bsky.social and @charleshecker.bsky.social on Trump-whispering, micro-managing and keeping influencers out of journalism, plus NATO's head of policy planning, Benedetta Berti-Alberti, interviewed at @munsecconf.bsky.social. monocle.com/radio/shows/...

How will European leaders play the Trump game?

As France’s Emmanuel Macron and the UK’s Keir Starmer visit the White House this week, we unpack how European leaders will approach Trump when it comes to…

monocle.com

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Charles Hecker @charleshecker.bsky.social · Feb 23

Huge thanks to everyone who pre-ordered Zero Sum in the US. I’m truly grateful. These feverish days are the perfect time to read about the triumphant highs and devastating lows in the history of Western business in Russia.

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Charles Hecker @charleshecker.bsky.social · Feb 22

Zero Sum in the ‘Smart Thinking’ section @waterstones.bsky.social Picadilly. @benhnoble.bsky.social @hurstpublishers.bsky.social Business, Russia and geopolitics. How timely.

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Reposted by Charles Hecker

Hurst Publishers @hurstpublishers.bsky.social · Feb 21

#Trump posits welcoming #Russia back into the #G7. As businesses prep for their re-entry plans to the Russian market, what did they learn on their way out? Read @charleshecker.bsky.social's #ZeroSum: The Arc of International Business in Russia. ‘Fascinating’ @financialtimes.com tinyurl.com/485er3kk

Zero Sum | Hurst Publishers

From communism to capitalism to collapse, the highs and lows of doing business in post-Soviet Russia.

tinyurl.com

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Charles Hecker @charleshecker.bsky.social · Feb 11

🚨Heads up New York! Join me on 27 March @columbiauniversity.bsky.social’s Harriman Institute for a book talk with Alexander Cooley on the past, present & future of int’l business in Russia. @hurstpublishers.bsky.social @oxfordunipress.bsky.social Register ⬇️
harriman.columbia.edu/event/book-tal…

https://harriman.columbia.edu/event/book-tal…

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Charles Hecker @charleshecker.bsky.social · Feb 11

Catch me and David Benyon talking about Russia and geopolitical risk on the brilliant Political Risk Podcast, at the link below (and others too). Thanks, Dave, for letting me talk about my book Zero Sum, from @hurstpublishers.bsky.social

podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/t...

The Political Risk Podcast

Business Podcast · 35 Episodes · Twice monthly

podcasts.apple.com

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Charles Hecker @charleshecker.bsky.social · Jan 26

A now de-classified 1994 memo from the US Moscow embassy to the State Dept candidly warned that the US was getting it wrong in Russia. Its author suffered the consequences. Did the relationship suffer, too? A few thoughts from me, in @thespectator1828.bsky.social

www.spectator.co.uk/article/coul...

Could Russia and America ever have got along?

A revealing, damning and fascinating diplomatic memorandum, sent in 1994 from the US embassy in Moscow, has recently been declassified.

www.spectator.co.uk

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Charles Hecker @charleshecker.bsky.social · Jan 15

Steph, thanks. It was such a pleasure to be a guest on #MeetTheWriters, with you in control on the boards and @georginagodwin.bsky.social at the mic.

Steph @ste-c.bsky.social · Jan 15

First new ep of #MeetTheWriters of 2025 features Monocle’s regular contributor @charleshecker.bsky.social who discusses his debut “Zero Sum” - a exploration of the adventures (or misadventures) of western capitalists venturing into the financial world of Soviet Russia - monocle.com/radio/shows/...

Charles Hecker: Russia’s zero-sum game

Charles Hecker’s 40-year career has seen him travelling and reporting from both the Soviet Union and Russia. He has worked as a journalist and a geopolitical…

monocle.com

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Reposted by Charles Hecker

Hurst Publishers @hurstpublishers.bsky.social · Jan 13

🎧 Tune in to @charleshecker.bsky.social’s interview with @georginagodwin.bsky.social on Monocle Radio as he discusses his career in geopolitics, his experience living in Moscow, and his new book #ZeroSum: The Arc of International Business in #Russia 👇
monocle.com/radio/shows/...

Charles Hecker: Russia’s zero-sum game

Charles Hecker’s 40-year career has seen him travelling and reporting from both the Soviet Union and Russia. He has worked as a journalist and a geopolitical…

monocle.com

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Charles Hecker @charleshecker.bsky.social · Jan 12

It’s sitting down with an empathetic and supportive friend, but with a microphone switched on. Join me and @georginagodwin.bsky.social for a chat about books (and my book), Russia, business and gratitude for a book-world ‘bully’. podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/m...

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Charles Hecker @charleshecker.bsky.social · Jan 4

The very nice people @foylesforbooks.bsky.social on Charing Cross Road now have signed copies of Zero Sum from @hurstpublishers.bsky.social. Thirty years of international #business in #Russia, from gold-rush stampede in the 1990s to head-for-the-exits in 2022. @benhnoble.bsky.social

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Reposted by Charles Hecker

Michael Dwyer @michaeldwyer.bsky.social · Jan 4

'the Westerners [in #Russia] were willing, well-paid accomplices in the construction and population of a #Potemkin village. Crooks, goons and cronies flourished behind the façade of democracy and capitalism.'
@hurstpublishers.bsky.social @charleshecker.bsky.social
www.thetimes.com/culture/book...

Crooks and cronies: the heavy price we paid for doing business in Russia

In Zero Sum, Charles Hecker reveals the hubris, greed and gullibility of the Western investors who flocked into Russia to make big bucks

www.thetimes.com

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Charles Hecker @charleshecker.bsky.social · Jan 2

Thanks, @listentotimesradio.bsky.social and Ed Vaizey, for the chat about my book, Zero Sum, from @hurstpublishers.bsky.social. The rollercoaster story of three astonishing decades of international #business in #Russia is in bookstores everywhere and online.

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Charles Hecker @charleshecker.bsky.social · Dec 30

An impressive start to the week on both fronts, @joshuachuminski.bsky.social! Huge thanks for the shout-out. Am really eager for your feedback. (Will be cutting and pasting your crossword answers, btw.)

Joshua C Huminski @joshuachuminski.bsky.social · Dec 30

Starting the last Monday of 2024 (we made it…) with the @nytimes.com crossword (amusingly with ‘think tank’ as an answer) and @charleshecker.bsky.social’s newly released “Zero Sum” @hurstpublishers.bsky.social, a riveting exploration of the role of international business in post-Soviet Russia.

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Reposted by Charles Hecker

Joshua C Huminski @joshuachuminski.bsky.social · Dec 30

Starting the last Monday of 2024 (we made it…) with the @nytimes.com crossword (amusingly with ‘think tank’ as an answer) and @charleshecker.bsky.social’s newly released “Zero Sum” @hurstpublishers.bsky.social, a riveting exploration of the role of international business in post-Soviet Russia.

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