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Charles Hecker

@charleshecker.bsky.social
350 followers 156 following 40 posts

Author, Zero Sum: The Arc of International Business in Russia, from @hurstpublishers (UK) and Oxford University Press (US). Russia geek. Lots of priors. amzn.eu/d/akcwgL6 & a.co/d/godZKis

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Reposted by Charles Hecker
Andrew Mueller @andrewmueller.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
Latest Daily on Monocle Radio. @patticohen.bsky.social and @charleshecker.bsky.social on the possible expansion of the US-Iran war, the day's other stories and. . . socks, plus Julie Norman from the West Bank on the increasing scepticism towards a two-state solution. monocle.com/radio/shows/...
monocle.com
The costs of war for the US and who will foot Pakistan’s mediation bill?
Charles Hecker and Patti Cohen explore the effects Yemen’s Houthis could have on global shipping, how much the Iran war...
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RUSI @rusi.bsky.social · 18/06/2026
In the latest Global Security Briefing @charleshecker.bsky.social and Natia Seskuria discuss what the Russian wartime economy looks like beneath the official data and its implications for regime stability. Listen to the episode: bit.ly/4vhFOvQ
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Hurst Publishers @hurstpublishers.bsky.social · 05/06/2026
As Ukraine's drones & a stagnating economy overshadow 'Putin's Davos' in St Petersburg, learn why investors should indeed tread cautiously by reading 'Zero Sum: The Arc of International Business in Russia' by @charleshecker.bsky.social. Updated PB in Sept. Sample & purchase 👉  tinyurl.com/3vy2snjn
Print book and ebook of Zero Sum: The Arc of International Business in Russia by Charles Hecker showing the Moscow skyline.
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Andrew Mueller @andrewmueller.bsky.social · 17/05/2026
Hosted Monocle on Sunday with @terrystiastny.bsky.social and @charleshecker.bsky.social, plus Monocle's Eurovision Desk Chief @feap.bsky.social and our editorial director Tyler Brûlé on what last night might mean for Bulgaria. monocle.com/radio/shows/...
monocle.com
Eurovision Song Contest, urban futures and the week’s top stories - Monocle
Terry Stiastny and Charles Hecker join Andrew Mueller to unpack the week’s news. Carlota Rebelo reports from the World Urban...
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Andrew Mueller @andrewmueller.bsky.social · 29/04/2026
Latest Daily on Monocle Radio. @clarkkate.bsky.social and @charleshecker.bsky.social on Moscow's lo-fi plans for Victory Day, the James Comey indictment and other stories, plus Charlotte McDonald-Gibson on diplomatic dining etiquette. monocle.com/radio/shows/...
monocle.com
Nothing to see here: Russia plans military parade with no weaponry on show - Monocle
We discuss the drivers behind Putin scaling back this year’s Victory Day commemorations. Then: The Afghanistan-Pakistan ceasefire teeters and former...
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Andrew Mueller @andrewmueller.bsky.social · 12/03/2026
Latest Daily on Monocle Radio. Carole Walker and @charleshecker.bsky.social on Hormuz, Iran's absentee Supreme Leader and the day's other stories, and a letter from Oaxaca. monocle.com/radio/shows/...
monocle.com
Iran vows to keep blocking Strait of Hormuz as three more cargo ships are attacked in the Gulf - Monocle
Iran’s new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, has reportedly vowed that Iran will continue blocking the Strait of Hormuz. Plus: Tira...
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Jenny Mathers @jgmaber.bsky.social · 11/03/2026
🎙️ This morning @charleshecker.bsky.social & I spoke to @georginagodwin.bsky.social on Monocle Radio's The Globalist about the Trump administration's suggestion that they might lift sanctions on Russian oil. The segment starts 3 minutes and 40 seconds into the recording monocle.com/player/?uuid...
monocle.com
Monocle radio - listen now
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Hurst Publishers @hurstpublishers.bsky.social · 23/02/2026
To understand the economic pressure Russia is under, see @charleshecker.bsky.social's recent interview here ➡️ tinyurl.com/43pft42h. Read his book, ‘Zero Sum: The Arc of International Business in Russia’. ‘Fascinating’ @financialtimes.com tinyurl.com/485er3kk
tinyurl.com
Zero Sum | Hurst Publishers
A Foreign Affairs 'Book of the Year' From communism to capitalism to collapse, the highs and lows of doing business in post-Soviet Russia.
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Andrew Mueller @andrewmueller.bsky.social · 29/01/2026
Latest Daily on Monocle Radio. @lynneodonnell.bsky.social and @charleshecker.bsky.social on whether Donald Trump may have a point re: the return of Nouri Maliki, plus the day's other stuff, and a letter from Gregory Scruggs in Santo Domingo. monocle.com/radio/shows/...
monocle.com
Iraq’s former prime minister Nouri al-Maliki resurfaces – but at what cost? - Monocle
Our guests Lynne O’Donnell and Charles Hecker assess the reemergence of Iraq’s former prime minister Nouri al-Maliki, and whether it’s...
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The Kennan Institute @kennaninstitute.bsky.social · 20/01/2026
🔴 The Long View #008 The Russian business environment has fundamentally changed. @charleshecker.bsky.social explains why new elites, new laws, and hard feelings complicate any return of Western companies.
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The Kennan Institute @kennaninstitute.bsky.social · 16/01/2026
🔴 The Long View #008 Even severe economic pressure does not always change political behavior. @charleshecker.bsky.social explains why Russia’s worsening economic outlook may not be the decisive factor for Putin.
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The Kennan Institute @kennaninstitute.bsky.social · 07/01/2026
🔴 The Long View #008 Western Businesses in Post-Soviet Russia, Part 2 Following a strong response to last year’s event, Thane Gustafson and @charleshecker.bsky.social return to continue the conversation. Register to attend. zoom.us/webinar/regi...
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Charles Hecker @charleshecker.bsky.social · 03/12/2025
If you haven’t read ‘How Tyrants Fall,’ by @marceldirsus.com, you need to do that now. But first, listen to Marcel and I talk about the history (and the future) of Western business in Russia, in his great new podcast, The Next Best. The timing could not be better.
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Charles Hecker @charleshecker.bsky.social · 03/12/2025
It’s my great honour to join @rusi.bsky.social as an Assoc Fellow in the International Security Research Group, under Dr Neil Melvin. Huge thanks to Rachel Ellehuus, Neil Watling and Emily Ferris for their warm welcome. Looking forward to leaning *and* contributing.
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Charles Hecker @charleshecker.bsky.social · 20/11/2025
Thank you to the @kennaninstitute.bsky.social for the terrific conversation, and congratulations on a successful re-launch.
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Andrew Mueller @andrewmueller.bsky.social · 20/11/2025
Latest Daily on Monocle Radio. @charleshecker.bsky.social and Carole Walker on the US-Russia "peace plan" for Ukraine, and the day's other stuff, plus @pburtsoff.bsky.social reports from Hanaholmen. monocle.com/radio/shows/...
monocle.com
Zelensky’s meeting with top US army delegation in Kyiv - Monocle
Volodymyr Zelensky prepares to meet with a US army delegation in Kyiv after American and Russian officials draft a plan...
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Charles Hecker @charleshecker.bsky.social · 07/03/2025
📖🎉 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...
nytimes.com
6 New Books We Recommend This Week
Suggested reading from critics and editors at The New York Times.
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Charles Hecker @charleshecker.bsky.social · 06/03/2025
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 · 05/03/2025
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
foreignaffairs.com
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.
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Charles Hecker @charleshecker.bsky.social · 05/03/2025
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 ⬇️
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Charles Hecker @charleshecker.bsky.social · 04/03/2025
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...
nytimes.com
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.
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Charles Hecker @charleshecker.bsky.social · 04/03/2025
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.
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Charles Hecker @charleshecker.bsky.social · 04/03/2025
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).
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Andrew Mueller @andrewmueller.bsky.social · 26/02/2025
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/...
monocle.com
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…
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Charles Hecker @charleshecker.bsky.social · 23/02/2025
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 · 22/02/2025
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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Hurst Publishers @hurstpublishers.bsky.social · 21/02/2025
#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
tinyurl.com
Zero Sum | Hurst Publishers
From communism to capitalism to collapse, the highs and lows of doing business in post-Soviet Russia.
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Charles Hecker @charleshecker.bsky.social · 11/02/2025
🚨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…
harriman.columbia.edu
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Charles Hecker @charleshecker.bsky.social · 11/02/2025
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...
podcasts.apple.com
The Political Risk Podcast
Business Podcast · 35 Episodes · Twice monthly
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Charles Hecker @charleshecker.bsky.social · 26/01/2025
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...
spectator.co.uk
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.
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Charles Hecker @charleshecker.bsky.social · 15/01/2025
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.
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Hurst Publishers @hurstpublishers.bsky.social · 13/01/2025
🎧 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/...
monocle.com
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…
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Charles Hecker @charleshecker.bsky.social · 12/01/2025
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...
podcasts.apple.com
Charles Hecker: Russia’s zero-sum game
Podcast Episode · Meet the Writers · 12/01/2025 · 30m
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Charles Hecker @charleshecker.bsky.social · 04/01/2025
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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Michael Dwyer @michaeldwyer.bsky.social · 04/01/2025
'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...
thetimes.com
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
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Charles Hecker @charleshecker.bsky.social · 02/01/2025
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 · 30/12/2024
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.)
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Joshua C Huminski @joshuachuminski.bsky.social · 30/12/2024
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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Charles Hecker @charleshecker.bsky.social · 27/12/2024
Hatchards at St Pancras and on Piccadilly are wonderful places to buy great books. And yes, I have a particular book in mind. Zero Sum is out and about across London and the U.K. The current affairs lover you know - or the one in you - will enjoy this tale of modern Russia.
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Charles Hecker @charleshecker.bsky.social · 24/12/2024
If you’re not in the holiday mood yet, #MonocleRadio will put you there. Great music, a bit of news and current affairs, and an easy Christmas vibe. Join us while you pour the eggnog. 🎄🎅🏻🥂 Thanks @georginagodwin.bsky.social and @ste-c.bsky.social
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Charles Hecker @charleshecker.bsky.social · 24/12/2024
Spotted in the wild - and in very good company - at Hatchards St Pancras. Eagle eyes @hurstpublishers.bsky.social
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Charles Hecker @charleshecker.bsky.social · 16/12/2024
You sit down for an interview on international #business in #Russia, and it becomes a #Moscow nostalgia session! Thanks, Bobby Kerr for the great chat this weekend. newstalk.com/shows/down-to-… #ZeroSum is out and available from @hurstpublishers.bsky.social in bookstores and online. 📖🎁
newstalk.com
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Hurst Publishers @hurstpublishers.bsky.social · 13/12/2024
‘What remains is the lingering residue of a boozy party that peaked too soon, ended in a brawl and left many questions dangling.’ Read @charleshecker.bsky.social’s analysis of Carlsberg’s exit from #Russia in @thespectator1828.bsky.social 👇 #ZeroSum is out now. www.spectator.co.uk/article/why-...
spectator.co.uk
Why Carlsberg left Russia
Carlsberg, the brewing giant whose presence in Russia transformed that country’s beverage market, has left.
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Charles Hecker @charleshecker.bsky.social · 11/12/2024
A company wants to leave Russia on moral grounds, but by the time the exit process is finished, it looks more like it's been spat out by the Kremlin. How does this happen and what does it feel like? www.spectator.co.uk/article/why-...
spectator.co.uk
Why Carlsberg left Russia
Carlsberg, the brewing giant whose presence in Russia transformed that country’s beverage market, has left.
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Charles Hecker @charleshecker.bsky.social · 09/12/2024
This is a huge honour and a phenomenal opportunity to pay a bit back to an academic community that has been a source of great inspiration. Really looking forward to getting involved. Special thanks to Kate Mallinson and @benhnoble.bsky.social
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Charles Hecker @charleshecker.bsky.social · 08/12/2024
Zero Sum - the story of thirty years of capitalism in Russia - spotted in the wild today at Heffers Books in Cambridge (UK). Now available amzn.eu/d/ddCAKzP and www.hurstpublishers.com/book/zero-sum/
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Georgina Godwin @georginagodwin.bsky.social · 07/12/2024
Monocle on Saturday on #monocleradio with my guest @charleshecker.bsky.social we discussed the news, heard from the creators of #grandthefthamlet & crossed to Zurich for the Xmas market monocle.com/radio/shows/...
monocle.com
The week in news and culture
Join Georgina Godwin and Charles Hecker for a round-up of the week’s news and culture. Plus: a conversation with Sam Crane and Pinny Grylls, writer and dir…
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Charles Hecker @charleshecker.bsky.social · 01/12/2024
Very grateful to be in such good company and on such a respected and authoritative podcast. Thank you, @markgaleotti.bsky.social for featuring Zero Sum in your latest episode.
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Charles Hecker @charleshecker.bsky.social · 30/11/2024
Thanks, @joshuachuminski.bsky.social. Hope you’ll enjoy reading it as much as the FT did.
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Charles Hecker @charleshecker.bsky.social · 30/11/2024
Lynne, thank you! Really grateful for the kind words. 🙏🏻
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