{"version":"1.0","type":"rich","provider_name":"Acast","provider_url":"https://acast.com","height":250,"width":700,"html":"<iframe src=\"https://embed.acast.com/$/6a2ad2e9440b9d7bbf6bde6b/6a30006a6edea1d9abd6aaad?\" frameBorder=\"0\" width=\"700\" height=\"250\"></iframe>","title":"Empire of Spies – An ex-CIA officer exposes Putin’s intelligence state ","thumbnail_width":200,"thumbnail_height":200,"thumbnail_url":"https://open-images.acast.com/shows/6a2ad2e9440b9d7bbf6bde6b/1781530564958-b7f7469d-87b1-49a3-99e0-2433b2b7bf3a.jpeg?height=200","description":"<p>The West’s naivete towards Putin in the 2000s cost us dearly. Now Russia’s tyrant – a creature of the KGB/FSB who has returned his country to its roots as a repressive intelligence state – is attacking us with unprecedented ferocity and deviousness. <strong>Sean Wiswesser</strong>, ex-CIA station chief in the former Soviet Union, says the “reckless” activity of FSB and GRU agents has reached new heights. But can they be stopped – and can we win the intelligence war? He tells <strong>Andrew Harrison</strong> how intelligence and dirty tricks are inextricable from Putin’s power; how the old skills of “tradecraft” persist alongside new digital tactics; and what really makes Russian intelligence tick.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p> </p><p>• Buy Sean’s book <a href=\"https://uk.bookshop.org/a/13277/9798892410199\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Tradecraft, Tactics, and Dirty Tricks: Russian Intelligence and Putin’s Secret War</a> from our affiliate bookshop and you’ll help fund the podcast by earning us a small commission for every sale. Bookshop.org’s fees help support independent bookshops too.&nbsp;</p><p><br></p><p>• Back us on Patreon – <a href=\"http://www.patreon.com/bunkercast\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">www.patreon.com/bunkercast</a>&nbsp;</p><p><br></p><p><em>Written and presented by Group Editor Andrew Harrison. Producer: James Liddell. Audio production: Jade Bailey. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. Music by Kenny Dickinson.</em><strong><em> THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production.</em></strong>&nbsp;</p><p><a href=\"http://www.podmasters.co.uk/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">www.podmasters.co.uk</a>&nbsp;</p>","author_name":"Podmasters"}