BOOK REVIEW: “Fujimori’s Peru: Deception in the Public Sphere,” by Catherine M. Conaghan (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2005) Some of the most interesting comparative politics studies I’ve read take a look at the similar experiences in transitions to democracy in both former Soviet states and Latin America nations. Although academics and others have been noting these similar trends for years, it seems that now, with the conclusion of the second Putin presidency (I dare not call it the end of the Putin era, per se), there is once again a rich field of experiences and methodologies to compare and contrast. I was particularly struck by this thought last December, as I followed the coverage of the long-awaited trial of the former dictator of Peru, Alberto Fujimori, who before sentencing angrily erupted with the following outburst: “I received a country … almost in collapse, exhausted by hyperinflation, international financial isolation and widespread terrorism. My government rescued the human rights of 25 million Peruvians with no exceptions!” Sound familiar? Russia’s Igor Sechin (left) and Peru’s Vladimiro Montesinos (right). How did these two government officials respectively use the Federal Security Service (FSB) and Servicio de Inteligencia Nacional (SIN) to seize control of the executive?