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Hey there, I'm Asma Khalid.

And I'm Tristan Redmond, and we're here with a bonus episode for you from the Global Story podcast.

The world order is shifting. Old alliances are fraying and new ones are emerging. Some of this

turbulence can be traced to decisions made in the United States.

But the U.S. isn't just a cause of the upheaval.

Its politics are also a symptom of it.

Every day we focus on one story, looking at how America and the world shape each other.

So we hope you enjoy this episode.

And to find more of our show, just search for the global story wherever you get your BBC

podcasts.

When you're trying to make sense of the world in this moment, one person central to it

all is Vladimir Putin.

And although here on this show, we have looked at Putin's backstory and how it informs

Russia today, there remains a pivotal series of events during his rise to power that is still

shrouded in confusion and controversy. In September 1999, just weeks after Putin became

Prime Minister, four bombs blew up four apartment buildings

across Russia. The bombs exploded in the middle of the night, killing hundreds of people

while they slept. In the aftermath of the bombings, many strange things happened, and that

led to several different theories about who could have been behind those attacks.

The Russian government blamed militants from Chechnya, a rebellious region in the south of Russia.

But some said the bombings were the work of the FSB, Russia's security services.

...