Posted on 11/18/2017 10:28:57 AM PST by GoldenState_Rose
The central argument of the book is that Russia has returned to the dangerous stagnation of the 1980s, largely thanks to the resurgence of the old KGB. The authoritarian squeeze will worsen at home, Mr Kovalev predicts, while foreign policy will become increasingly hostile and unpredictable. In the long run he fears a break-up of Russia, before—possibly—the dawn of democracy, the rule of law and modernisation.
His language is strikingly blunt. Mr Putin is a “mumbling, stammering knock-kneed brow-furrowing ex-KGB agent who speaks the language of the gutter and values power above everything”. Echoing Alexander Herzen, a 19th-century émigré who declared Russia to be suffering from “patriotic syphilis”, Mr Kovalev diagnoses in his country “manic-depressive psychosis…acute megalomania, persecution complex and kleptomania”. Foreigners who write like this are accused of Russophobia. But it is hard to bring that charge against the erudite Mr Kovalev, with his long and distinguished public service.
He paints a convincing first-hand picture of the confusion of the Gorbachev years, the dysfunction of the Boris Yeltsin era and the ebb and flow of KGB influence in the highest reaches of power. Mr Kovalev’s finest hour was ending the practice of coercive psychiatry. As a senior diplomat dealing with human rights, he brought the power of the reformist foreign ministry to bear on the secretive health ministry, which flatly denied that any abuse was taking place. He also pioneered reforms to improve religious freedom.
(Excerpt) Read more at economist.com ...
Another reason our media and fake-conservative neocons hate Russia: Russia has said no to the gay agenda. They don’t let gay couples adopt orphans. That makes them evil in our establishment’s eyes
WilliamIII,
Most foreign recruits to ISIS hail from Russia. Moscow has the highest population of Muslims in all of Europe, to the point where Islamic holidays force Russian public schools near mosques to shut down or open later due to the overflow of crowds who need outdoor space to pray.
1) Consider the threat of cultural instability posed by the three Islamic republics within the Russian Federation: Tatarstan, Dagestan, and most significantly: Chechnya, which is basically a borderline theocracy headed by Putin’s pal Kadyrov.
Not to mention the growing hotbeds of terrorism the former Soviet states of Central Asia are proving to be: Uzbekistan, Kazahkstan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan - workers from which Russia heavily relies upon as it battles low birthrates and a major demographic crisis (of ethnic Russians) and impending labor shortage.
2) Indeed, Putin has seized upon the West’s military misadventures in the Middle East and elsewhere. And decided hey, Russia deserves to have some “fun” too. Neocon style. Consider Russia’s alliance with Iran, Consider Putin’s foray into Eastern Ukraine, Georgia, etc...
3) Although a liability no many fronts, consider Putin’s continued support of North Korea. (North Korean “Kim” dynasty was installed in the 1940s by Stalin in case people forgot.) Today, China and Russia see it in their interest to protect status quo of Korean peninsula, lest U.S. interests be served by a united Korea.
3) And above all, consider this:
In addition to persecuting Christians, Russia projects power abroad to subvert Western audiences and support anti-Western and Islamic forces to the detriment of Western values and U.S. national security objectives. Just as Moscow supports “Christian” actors who serve Kremlin interests, Moscow supports Islamic actors who serve Kremlin interests. In fact, Putin stated that the Russian Orthodox Church has “much in common with Islam,” that “Islam is one of the traditional religions of Russia and deserves the support of the [Russian] government,” and that Russia will always be “a reliable ally” to the “Islamic world.” Perhaps Putin’s endorsement of Islam helps explain why the Kremlin has been supportive of a litany of radical Islamic regimes and tyrants.
Thank you for this! Bought it!
They went politically wrong by not allowing their nation to be further broken down into a number of little often resource rich counties under the thumb of those who rule over us here.
it’s translated from Russian. Herzen means a diseased form of patriotism that ultimately undermines the people’s best interests. Much was made by observers about the toxic, social state of Russia before the 1917 Revolution - a revolution which many predicted. (But the way the Revolution played out only made things worse.)
In today’s Russia, the toxic atmosphere transpires because people are more interested in crafting “self-serving mythologies” around their national narrative, while avoiding the necessary soul searching from darker aspects of the past. There has never been a collective repentance as post-Nazi Germany has had to undergo (and continues to in many ways.)
So while Russia is no longer the Soviet Union (or Russian Empire) outright, the quest to idealize the past in the name of preserving pride, allows for the ills of the past to be reappear unchallenged in various forms. Unlearned lessons lead to history being repeated.
Gulag historians note that Russia’s past lies in wait for the next generation.
[Christianity is honored in Russia today]
Putin’s War on Christianity Is the Russia Issue That Can’t Be Ignored
https://relevantmagazine.com/article/putins-war-on-christianity-is-the-russia-issue-that-cant-be-ignored/
I always think of this scene from Doctor Zhivago
“They’re coming for your wives, your houses, your country.”
“YOUR country........Officer!”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QkJjWIHFSA
Tom Clancy, in his novels, had a lot to say how Russia went wrong.
Putin is NOT Gorbachev. He has made it a point not to be loud and clear. Stalin is a hero in today’s Russia. Not Gorbachev. He is outright villainized and cursed at times, for how he capitulated to the U.S. in their view.
Putin and his oligarchs have about 1 trillion US dollars stored in Western banks. This, among other investments and holdings resulting from the continued plundering of Russia’s national resources made at the expense of the population.
So sanctions bite.
He has to protect these interests plus he needs the Russian economy stable enough so as to prevent a mini-revolution or outcry from the population (like the “Euromaidan” that took place in Ukraine in 2013.) So he is definitely pragmatic.
But otherwise, his geopolitical goal is 1) to destabilize and diminish America’s superpower status and interests however much possible 2) maintain as much a grip on Empire, which is why he took Crimea and continues to feel threatened by Ukraine’s desire to integrate with Europe economically.
Former Soviet states like Kazahkstan are moving in a Westward direction as well and going so far as to adopt the Latin alphabet. This is a big no-no for Putin.
Trump is thankfully gaining a handle on things by readjusting our foreign policy. It as when we were at our weakest that Putin was able to take Crimea and make headway into the Middle East as well.
I agree with you that “neocon” policies did not serve us well...but Putin’s Russia has adopted THOSE for themselves, rather than adopting the institutions which make America great: freedom, truly free markets, etc...
And coming to the rude realization that being under the thumb of Putin and his favored oligarchs isn’t that much better. Or worse.
While Russian elites protect their people from evil Western encroachment. See how they spend their money:
“Russian Elites Sharply Increase Their Purchases of Housing and Business in Europe”
“In the first months of 2017, wealthy Russians doubled the number of purchases of housing stock abroad, especially near universities for their children, and increased by 600 percent their purchases of existing businesses that they may eventually move to and run...”
http://windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2017/11/russian-elites-sharply-increase-their.html
Indeed Billthedrill, it’s the conundrum posed by 1st Samuel 8 - in the Bible.
The Israelites were so desperate for a human ruler in the name of stability. So much so that, it was not uncommon for them to be nostalgic for their slavery in Egypt. At least in Egypt they was food and other guarantees.
For Russians today, the Soviet Union is their “Egypt.” They have tolerated Putin’s authoritarianism in the name of some economic perks and a restored sense of national pride. (Based on faulty, heavily edited historical narratives.)
Building a free society is tough stuff! Trusting in an invisible God to be their king, proved to be too trying.
As per 1st Samuel Chapter 8:
6 But when they said, “Give us a king to lead us,” this displeased Samuel; so he prayed to the Lord. 7 And the Lord told him: “Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king. 8 As they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are doing to you. 9 Now listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who will reign over them will claim as his rights.” ... 14 “He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive groves and give them to his attendants. 15 “He will take a tenth of your grain and of your vintage and give it to his officials and attendants.”
17 He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his slaves. 18 When that day comes, you will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen, but the Lord will not answer you in that day.”
19 But the people refused to listen to Samuel. “No!” they said. “We want a king over us. 20 Then we will be like all the other nations, with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles.”
21 When Samuel heard all that the people said, he repeated it before the Lord. 22 The Lord answered, “Listen to them and give them a king.”
This article is identical to articles about Russia that the Economist published 15 years ago. There is no new information, no real insight. It’s just propaganda against the current government by people with an agenda and no balance or context. The Economist magazine folks are hard line globalists who hate Trump and want Hilary Clinton style open borders and social liberalism for all nations. The Economist magazine has never cared about the well being of anyone, it simply represents the amoral interests of transnational capital.
It’s the worst that has a war on Christianity, not Russia. In this country a florist can be fined or worse for not servicing a gay wedding. Innocent orphans can be adopted by male couples. None of that in Russia
It’s the WEST that has a war on Christianity, not Russia. In this country a florist can be fined or worse for not servicing a gay wedding. Innocent orphans can be adopted by male couples. None of that in Russia
You’re right. Putin is not Gorbochev. Gorbochev rule over a vast Soviet empire of which Crimea was a very small slice. Putin rules over Russia and measley Crimea, nothing more
The protection of Christians by Assad was the unanimous point of view of my numerous Syrian students in my high school classes, now sadly a bygone day.
Yes don’t throw baby out with the bathwater. The book its reviewing is the focus here and Kovalev loves his country and gave a lot to it. Many Russians critical of the current state of their country write from a place of patriot’s pain.
Yup that is the Russian narrative hook, line, and sync-er.
...as they rehabiliate Stalin’s image, close archives to Christian victims of the Gulag, and persecute Evangelical missionaries under the 2016 enactment of the Yarovaya Law, which made Franklin Graham cancel a large conference he was to host there.
Also note country’s sobering HIV statistics. Though they will blame that on the West too.
“They (Modern-day Russians) see him (Stalin) as the one responsible for making Russia powerful, despite his methods, much like Ivan the Terrible.”
Our Modern-day Russian friends are overlooking that tiny little fact that Stalin was a mass murderer on a scale that puts him up there with Hitler and Mao.
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