Steve LeVine on "Putin's Labyrinth: Spies, Murder, and the Dark Heart of the New Russia."

Steve LeVine on "Putin's Labyrinth: Spies, Murder, and the Dark Heart of the New Russia."

Russia's rich oil reserves are helping the country regain prominence. Under Vladimir Putin and his sucessor, Dmitry Medvedev, nationalism has grown as well.

Is it a return to Soviet-era systems and beliefs? Or has the nation moved into a different paradigm?

Author Steve LeVine says the country is stained by a "culture of death," from assassinations of state critics to possible Kremlin indifference in hostage crises - The Commonwealth Club of California

Steve LeVine covers foreign affairs and energy for BusinessWeek. He is based in Washington, D.C.

Previously he was based in Central Asia and the Caucasus for 11 years -- starting two weeks after the Soviet collapse through 2003. He ran The Wall Street Journal bureau for the eight-nation region, and before that covered it for The New York Times.