Posted on 02/07/2018 12:41:13 PM PST by GoldenState_Rose
1. Putin like Gorbachev has entered an arms race with a weak economy that can’t support it.
2. Putin has gotten involved in long-running foreign policy “adventures,” Afghanistan in the case of Gorbachev who ultimately got out of that one and Putin in the case of Ukraine.
3. Putin is prepared to fund all the misfits of the world who are prepared to support him just as Soviet leaders including Gorbachev until the money ran out were prepared to back those of “’a socialist orientation.’”
4. Putin is spending enormous sums on “pompous celebrations and ‘projects of the century’ like the Olympics, the World Cup and the Kerch Bridge, just as the Soviets did with BAM and other ultimately failed projects.
5. Putin has created a situation in which relations with the West have soured. As a result, the West has imposed sanctions. Something very similar happened at the end of Soviet times.
6. Putin has started conflicts with the national elites in the non-Russian republics by installing outsiders in them as now in Daghestan just as Gorbachev famously did in Kazakhstan in 1986.
7. Putin’s policies have led to a decline in the standard of living for the majority of the population just as Soviet policies did, with stagnation and popular unhappiness the result.
(Excerpt) Read more at windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com ...
I haven’t seen any ‘popular unrest.’ To the contrary, another article at the same blog site is titled, “Half of Russians Would Like to See Their Children Work in the Security Services.”
Gorby didn’t have the huge resources of China.
OTOH he didn’t have to bow to China like Putin does.
Re-Sovietization of Russian society combined w/ lack of economic diversification means there are limited options. Country puts it stake in things like secret intelligence and military instead of fostering entrepreneurship and innovation. Not exactly forward thinking.
I suppose that’s true. But they’re
still better off than Venezuela.
Interesting how powerful a nation’s perceptions and mentalities remain fixed over decades and centuries, even in the face of a changing world around them.
Indeed. And thats why Russia is able to give Venuzuela financial bailout assistance. (As it has.)
It is a mystery how Russia even functions. It’s economy is the size of Italy’s, it is a kleptocratic state, and only the suicidal would invest a dime in Russia.
Demographics are also against it. If you wanted to point to a culture that is the pinnacle of an abortion and divorce culture, that would be Russia. They have an abysmal replacement rate, rivaled only by Japan, and in fact have a SHRINKING population.
I am happy they are fighting ISIS tooth and nail - doing what America is prevented from doing, but beyond that they are a sick dog.
Yes, there seems to be a Russian mindset that goes back centuries.
During the latter Bush administration, I felt like I was a neo-conservative, whatever the definition of that protean term actually is, and bought into the notion that everyone is motivated by Maslow’s Hierarchy, desiring the same things in life and thus similar in outlook.
The invasion of Iraq with its subsequent revelation of the Muslim mentality disabused me of the presumption that people are mostly alike.
They’re not. And outside the perimeter of Western CIv, nothing can be taken for granted. Nothing.
For all our faults, USA tends to learn from our mistakes and continue to pave the way forward for the world both in putting the past into perspective (declaring Jerusalem the capital of Israel.)
And leasing the world into the future. (SpaceX launch yesterday anyone?)
Sorry typos.
For all our faults, USA tends to learn from our mistakes and continues to pave the way forward for the world both in putting the past into perspective (declaring Jerusalem the capital of Israel.)
And leading the world into the future. (SpaceX launch yesterday anyone?)
Many reasons for this...we are blessed to be citizens of this great nation.
About half of the points above is utter rubbish.
Even factually incorrect.
You are absolutely right. This is obviously written by one of these "Russia" experts who knows absolutely nothing about Russia.
The only really significant foreign-policy adventure Russia is in is Syria, and that seems to be going really well for them. Ukraine is a distraction, and Putin isn't expending any significant blood OR treasure there.
This is pretty stupid. Putin throws out some corrupt kleptocrats (which, if you pay attention, has been his M.O. across the board) and somehow it is bad? These Dagitstanis were stealing everything in sight.
He replaced old kleptocrats with ones who support him or promised to keep out of politics. Russia’s had 20 years to diversify their economy, but it’s a corrupt as hell petrol-state oligarchy.
This is the most laughable claim in this article. Putin has been President of Russia since 2000 (with a brief, constitutionally mandated pause when Medvedev held the reins). Between 1991 and 2000 (the immediate post-Soviet era, when everyone was allowed to steal everything) the quality of life hit rock bottom. Life expectancy and birth rate plummeted, and the suicide rate skyrocketed. Since Putin took charge, all of these trends have reversed and quality of life is way better. Population is growing, life expectancy is growing. People are buying cars, new houses and apartments are going up EVERYWHERE, and jobs/business opportunities are ubiquitous.
Oil boom is over and of course its not Soviet Union...but let me ask you? Have you lived there as I have? And if so, when was the last time you were there and where did you stay?
(Moscow/St.P is not reflective of the whole of Russia.)
I am tired of Putin bots getting all their info from RT or even from the trolls here on FR thinking they can lecture me on Russia. Especially the Russia from 2008 onward. (When the financial crisis hit.)
There is no arguing with the fact that corruption remains (although not nearly as ubiquitous as 20 years ago), but Russia is simply not just a petrol-state anymore. Did you miss how suddenly Russia is the worlds number one exporter of wheat (all non-GMO, incidentally) and well on its way to being an all-around agro-powerhouse? To add to that, manufacturing is way up. "Made in Russia" is suddenly becoming a thing again, and people are very happy to choose domestic products over cheap Chinese (or expensive European) imports.
I'm glad you asked. I've been visiting Russia almost yearly since 2009. I've seen it before and after the financial crisis (which is, by all accounts over, BTW).
I've actually been living here since May of 2017. I'm well aware that MSK/StP is not representative of all Russia. In fact, I live in a small city in Krasnodarskiy Krai, about an hour outside of Krasnodar. So yes, I know the real Russia, and yes, I do have just a bit of experience to back up my perceptions.
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