Posted on 12/28/2017 8:22:19 AM PST by GoldenState_Rose
China and Singapore show what countries can achieve when they admit they are behind and have much to learn from others and play by the rules. But “Putin’s Russia conducts itself in a principally different way, pretending to be a counterweight to the West and in fact to the role of a world leader.”
“Not having the resources for this and also lacking any chance to achieve what it wants in an honest way, Putin” first violates the rules of the game and then begins to threaten that he will do even more unless others change the rules so that he and his country can assume the roles he thinks are rightfully theirs.
Why this will work only so long can be seen in what has happened in the world of international sports...
“For long years,” Yakovenko continues, “Putin’s Russia has spread chaos through world sports, buying up international sports officials retail and sports federations wholesale and by setting up an unprecedented state system of doping.” It achieved Putin’s goals for a time, but now that effort has collapsed...
Considering the diversity and complexity of the present-day world,” he says, “playing on the contradictions between the players, Putin still for a certain time may be able to support his regime by increasing chaos in the world.” But as what has happened in the sports world shows, he won’t be able to keep it up forever.
And because that is so, Yakovenko concludes, “the Putin stability which is based on the generation of chaos can end suddenly and much earlier than the end of the next presidential term,” something those who think that they are avoiding by voting for the Kremlin incumbent who promises stability above everything else should reflect upon.
(Excerpt) Read more at windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com ...
LoL. Maybe Putin watched that.
You just might have a case...of PDS (Putin Derangement Syndrome).
And you are a Vladdy Poots fanboy due to Obama derangement syndrome and haven’t woken up to the bells of Trump’s America yet.
Worked for Obama.
what delusional NeoCon wrote this tripe ?
Christian & Capifalisf Russia is a natural ally of us. We have more interests in common than nearly any other nation.
You start with a perfectly reasonable argument, and yet again quickly descend into name calling and “red baiting.”
I really am trying to understand your position, but you make it very hard.
It looks like Trump (at 46%) may have finally made it to half of Putin’s domestic popularity...so I doubt that Putin is too worried about being driven out of office.
Well tell that to people of Russia.
Putin has chosen to placate and pour billions into the Muslim republic of Chechnya where his buddy Ramazon Kadyrov just got sanctioned by Trump. Tatarstan and Dagestan are a bit more complicated.
Those are just the Muslim republics within Russia.
Think of the Central Asian migrants in Moscow who don’t need visas thanks to Putin.
And alliances with Iran, Sudan, Syria, and Turkey to boot.
Meant it in jest and in response to your accusation of Putin Derangement...which any normal person would have - having lived in Russia! Not derangement, just reality. Putin is one thing on paper and another when living under him. And most people here defending him have never lived in his country.
The problem is too many Russians are still nostalgic for the Soviet Union, and Putin has catered to that well.
I didn’t make the comment about Putin Derangement.
Um Bob...Trump has 46% with a media that hates him.
Please flip through Russian TV to find a single outlet critical of the Putin regime.
Oh wait...
Ooops Macgruff. So sorry. My bad. And I want to reiterate I don’t agree always with the blogger up above (Paul Goble) - too much of a doomsdayist. I don’t think Russia is going to fall apart, only that Putin won’t last.
But I like how Goble translates Russian publications.
And with regard to “red-baiting” - that is the problem: until you are there you don’t realize how much of a grip pro-Soviet historical memory and resentments have on the population at large.
Sorry Charlie , you are wrong
I don’t do vast public opinion surveys in Russia. I am pretty sure no one does. That alone says something about the nature of the regime in Russia.
At the same time though, I know many Russian expats in Europe, the USA and elsewhere. They are free to speak their mind. The main threads of all their comments are that Putin is respected because he controlled Russia’s out-of-control oligarchs. He allows them their riches, but he makes them also serve the State and the country. Putin also forces the West to deal with Russia as an equal, and prevents the depredations of Islam. Finally, they all want more openness and would love Russia to be like decentralized and democratic Switzerland, but they all seem to carry low expectations due to Russia’s history.
And even Putin defenders IN Russia will admit its not capitalist; it is an oligarchic kleptocracy.
The Christian label is precarious, it is definitely moreso than in the Soviet Union but even the Russian Orthodox Church has a lot of baggage to contend with considering its close ties with a State that never formally renounced the Bolshevik legacy.
And Russia still has to contend with some of the highest abortion and divorce rates in the world: an HIV epidemic at a tipping point, and male mortality due to alcoholism. (Look up life expectancy.)
Exactly, Rose, ...Putin's chaotic response to my "Arab Spring Democracy" Stability Initiative for the Middle East was devastating to ISIS Ter ... ah, well, Putin's chaotic response to my "Color Revolution" Nazi coup in Ukraine was devastating to George So ... ah, well, Damn that Putin!
Hate to break the news to you, but there is a HUGE PORTION of the country that is perfectly capable of hating Trump, with or without the media’s help.
Actually PGR, and this will be final post for now as I head to the Reagan Library with my sister today. :)
1) The Levada Center is one of the best and most respected sociological polling surveyists of the post-Soviet Russian landscape. There were pollsters who predicted two years ago that early spring of 2017 will see the rise of discontent and protests in Russia due to declining living standards and voila: look up Alexey Navalny and the protests that shook Russia throughout this year, notably beyond the city centers of Moscow and St. Petersburg. A thorn on Putin’s side.
2) What those expats SAY versus where their hearts actually are can be very different. It takes a lot of digging...
But to give you an example: this older gentleman I know from Odessa (ethnic Russian though) came to the U.S. in the late 70s. He tells me it took him a full 10 years to fully assimilate: not in terms of language, but in terms of detoxing from the mindset and habits he had accumulated while living under Soviet auspices. Among the habits are cheating, dishonesty, and doublespeak.
Everything in Soviet Union was about maintaining facade and delusion of the ideal. And you had to adjust your behavior accordingly. And some never do, even if they escaped, live in the West now, and have never returned.
Modern Russia (and Ukraine is VERY different as they don’t have the “big guy in charge” complex the Russians do) is a bit different, but the younger generations who came of age during Putin have also been re-indoctrinated in the name of preserving the pride of Russian history. This means viewing the Soviet Union with a critical eye is not encouraged. This means elderly people keep their traumas secret.
This means keeping up a face before foreign onlookers. This means going abroad for financial gain and opportunity but still retaining resentments over the collapse of their empire - and thereby supporting a leader who promises to avenge the fall.
And in terms of oligarchs. Putin merely got rid of the ones he liked and replaced it the ones he did. Simple.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.