Ben Judah

Ben Judah is a British journalist and author whose reporting moves between Russia, European politics, cities, and transnational corruption. Fragile Empire, his first book, examines Vladimir Putin's rise and the political order built around his rule. Yale University Press published it under the subtitle How Russia Fell In and Out of Love with Vladimir Putin. Judah traveled across Russia and former Soviet republics, interviewing officials, business figures, political opponents, and ordinary residents. The resulting account sets economic growth and public stability against corruption, institutional weakness, protest, and generational change. His later books changed scale without abandoning immersive reporting: This Is London follows lives across the British capital, while This Is Europe assembles portraits from several European cities. Judah has also held research roles at the Hudson Institute and Atlantic Council, where his work included kleptocracy and European policy. Fragile Empire established the method that links these projects, combining interviews, travel, and political analysis to show how large systems are experienced by people living inside them.