The Killing of William Browder

In 2015, former hedge fund manager Bill Browder published “Red Notice” - purportedly a true story about his experience in Russia between 1996 and 2005. Upon closer scrutiny however, his story doesn’t add up and demonstrably fails to stand up in a court of law. Nonetheless, on the dubious strength of that story, Browder has been able to lobby the U.S. Congress to pass the Magnitsky Act in 2012 which needlessly damaged the relations between the U.S. and Russia. Mark Twain warned us long ago about the “loud little handful,” shouting for war. Bill Browder has been one of the loudest and most effective among that loud little handful clamoring for a new Cold War with Russia. Where he failed in courts of law, his relentless campaign of demonization of Russia and Vladimir Putin succeeded in the court of public opinion in the West. As humanity finds itself on the precipice of yet another great war, we need bridges of mutual understanding and constructive engagement, not demonization. This book’s modest hope is to contribute to the construction of those bridges for I believe that the people of the United States and Russia, to whom this book is dedicated, hold the keys to the future of humanity.