The famous political scientist Sergei Kurginyan in his new book examines the phenomenon of so-called “undercover politics.” At the same time, he develops an apparatus with which to analyze non-transparent (“undercover”) political processes, and applies this apparatus to the analysis of current events. The author analyzes the most current events in recent Russian politics. Resignations and appointments, arrests and statements, commercial projects and political excesses. At the same time, the relevance (some would say “sensationalism”) of the events being analyzed does not obscure for him the true meaning of what is happening. Sergey Kurginyan does not take sides, does not try to demonize anyone. He acts not as an investigator or journalist, but as an investigator of the elite. The apparatus of elite theory, the sociology of closed groups, world-project competition, and political cultural studies allow the author to understand what is happening without stooping to “conspiracy theory” or “war of incriminating evidence.”