How naive is it to think that anything an autocrat says is sincere? Rather, isn’t it a typical authoritarian strategy to promulgate "nice", popular ideas while actually supporting the opposite? it's a clever reverse of the "fake news" label (so popular among modern day populist autocrats and their admirers.)
7
The Russian economy is floundering and Putin needed sanctions lifted. This key to his relationship with Trump. Putin needs an American president who is willing to lift the sanctions. The easily corrupted and already compromised Trump is his ideal candidate.
It will be interesting to see how far each man is willing to go. Far more interesting will be to see what will happen if the plan goes wrong.
3
The fight, as the author indicates, goes back to Nicholas and probably further. Probably one of the reasons some of the more knowledgeable Poles voted against Pope Paul VI and his effort to elevate the Roman Catholic Church to Poland's state religion. It would have relinquished one of the levers of power and the many little sub-levers below. And the Poles are very aware of Russian history. Constantine is spinning in his grave; he's the guy who started it all. But then it did serve his purpose at the time. Gibbon, though, is probably smiling in his
3
If Putin’s state is ramshackle and poorly controlled, as seems plausible, the analog need not reach back to the tsars. The state machinery headed by Gorbachev was notoriously inefficient. Harvested grain rotted in railway depots for lack of proper storage. There were shortages of everything: meat, bread, shoes, you name it. Manufactured goods that did exist were third rate at best.
While consumer goods are now produced in the private sector, that same corrupt Byzantine bureaucracy is what Putin inherited to run the state. It was never reformed, and the means of reform — a free press and independent judiciary, among others — were undercut or destroyed by Putin himself. Thus we can infer the system is at least as bad now as then, with no prospect for improvement.
5
Putin may be the richest person in the world, with possibly $200,000,000,000, but the exact number is hard to know.
Being so rich and controlling a large state, with an approval rating of about 65%, gives him great power. Putin can do anything he wants, to anyone anywhere in the world.
But Russia, as Obama said, does not make anything. They're no China. Putin squandered his country's resources and its future. All they do is spend the oil while drinking vodka.
People in the know say that Putin has plenty of power but he's overrated. He has no management skills, he cannot build anything, is strategically inept, and makes lots of mistakes. His Kremlin is disorganized; a gang that can't shoot straight.
Putin is no mastermind, just a common rich despot.
5
Is there a single competent leader anywhere now? Dictator and democrat alike seem lost.
2
He has sat on his throne for 18 years unchallenged. He has invaded foreign countries. He has had people murdered. He has wrapped trump around his little finger. I'd say he is a pretty good despot.
8
Stop already having illusions about Putin. He's a terrorist, a dictator, a liar and just a very bad man. People have to stop it, otherwise the world is in danger of irreparable damage! I escaped from Russia to Uruguay, so in Uruguay life is much safer and better than in Russia!
7
No collusion boys and girls, ladies and gents. How about them apples.
No collusion - plenty of corruption though. The king of corruption-Donald J Trump.
5
Putin may have trouble controlling his own country, but the 'Trump Whisperer' is doing a heck of a job controlling ours...
2
How are people taking an article about how poorly a thoroughly corrupt and criminal government filled with toxic masculinity runs a country and using it to prove(?) that Putin was not behind the attack on our election? It requires serious mental gymnastics to pull that off.
Putin is personally worth around 100 billion. He has full access to and use of a massive intelligence system that can touch anything. The people give him free reign to do whatever he wants. How exactly is he not successful? He may be a bad president but he is also a great crook. Russia being the crumbling ridiculous place that it is totally serves the personal Putin agenda.
3
An interesting article but let's not forget who sits atop the labyrinthine bureaucracy: an amoral, ambitious chekist thug.
1
When Mike Pompeo and Sarah Huckabee celebrate God as having something to do with the installation of Trump, they should extend their exaltation to Putin, who undisputedly also played a role. While we are at it, let us not forget Stalin, who is really the father of the regime that brought us ultimately the FSB (formerly KGB) and Putin. Reaching back a little further, we also need to recognize Adolf Hitler, whose ill-fated incursion into Russia ultimately brought Stalin to power, and how wonderful were these events to celebrate not just for the millions of holocaust victims, but also for the tens of millions who perished under Stalin. Truly a generous gift from God to all evangelicals who perceive themselves as prosecuted under Trump's predecessors. Just don't count me in on their celebrations.
1
@Erik van Dort: No, Stalin was in power well before Hitler invaded. Remember, they divided up Poland for a while? Who you should look back to before Stalin was Lenin, and before the Bolsheviks, the autocratic Tzarist regime. Only rudimentary democratic tendencies to be found here and there...
3
Any leader who has to rely on strong-man tactics is fundamentally weak. Putin, Trump, Xi, Duerte, Madurao, you name them. All weak. Not leaders but intimidaters and coercers.
5
He is as powerful as the New York Times, CNN, MSNBC and other mainstream media corporations have made him into as a byproduct of Hillary Clinton loosing the election.
In Czarist days, Russians peasants had a saying: "God is in heaven, and the Czar is far, far away."
For the modern age substitute "Putin" for "Czar."
2
I wonder how much of this came from US gov people? Is the story aimed at moving US-Russia relations forward, or backward, or something else?
1
A friend from Russia is convinced Putin died years ago and several body doubles, controlled by oligarchs, have replaced him. Let’s put Robert Mueller on it.
A dictator needs to monopolize fear and keep the main vested interests who might jeopardize his rule satisfied. Putin controls the army, FSB, media and the oligarchs. Add to that his mafia enforcers and the Russian Orthodox Church to provide a modicum of righteousness for a population that has never known democracy and that's quite enough. That the main players have tithed and paid obeisance to Putin and then been allowed to despoil the country is a logical outcome --and pretty meaningless in terms of reform.
Putin will be with us as long as he wants or until he is deposed by someone even more powerful and ruthless which is highly unlikely without the collaboration of the tightly controlled vested interests.
Abroad Putin looks stronger spawning look-a-likes attracted by his corrupt model with its plunder and longevity. Consider only the real or potential damage done to democratic institutions and the rule of law in Poland, Hungary, Italy, Austria, Venezuela, the Philippines, Brazil and other right wing, pseudo fascist leaning leaders content to pay the bribes required to undercut democracy's institutional checks and balances.
...And for two more years America and trump will extol the virtues of those who rape and pillage liberal and social democracies. But the real question is not Putin's plumage or Russia's shabby governance but rather what will the US do to reestablish the rule of law and morality when it sheds its current nightmare.
3
Putin won the election, the Russian people like him. Why is he called a dictator, or as John McCain called him, "Putin is a killer?"
The Russian election was at least as clean as our own election, who disputes it and has the evidence to prove it?
Putin is the head of the Russian government, he represents Russian, not US interests. What is wrong with that?
Putin was elected by the Russian people, he is their president. Only we call him a dictator, it helps to demonize him.
3
You must be kidding.
Putin’s “election” was fraudulent. Rivals were jailed. The press is state-controlled. A ham sandwich could have won, if nominated.
It’s not that Putin looks out for Russian interests. That’s fine. It’s that he is a bad actor on the international stage, from interfering with our elections to invading Crimea to supporting Assad in Syria to violating nuclear weapons treaties.
4
After Mueller's Report sees the light of day, the only real questions left will be “When will Putin release his Trump tapes?” and “What will he want for them?”
2
How much does Putin really care about some Jehovah's Witness from Denmark? Not much.
How much does Putin care about being the world's richest man and keeping his real enemies (democracy) at bay? Enough to make it happen.
1
It is a myth that despots, for all their harshness, at least make the trains run on time. They don’t. Almost every tyrant is cruel and violent and also lazy and incompetent. Because they are not accountable to voters or anything else in a system that is bent to their will, there is little reason for them to even show up at the office. And when they do, they spend most of their energy looking over their shoulders since tyranny tends to paranoia. After doing what they need to do to stay in power and bask in its benefits, little is left for the greater good. With very few exceptions (almost all to do with winning the geologic lottery) tyrannies send their countries spiraling downward.
5
@Thollian: Right. Apparently the "trains running on time" in fascist Italy were just the express passenger lines serving the tourists -- local trains would be shunted aside to wait for the express to fly by.
Anybody who has read the numerous books on Putin and Russia, like works by Masha Gessen and late journalist Anna Politkovskaya, understands that Putin is not omnipotent and that Russia is a kleptocracy in fragile economic shape. It’s also clear that Putin is a dangerous, unimaginative thug whose precarious situation does not prevent him from using Russia’s military and espionage apparatus to sow internal and global chaos (and to murder people). In fact, his delicate hold on power drives a lot of his actions.
4
Great update on our long-struggle to understand. Thanks, also consider:
"It doesn’t take that many people being dragged off to create a sense of terror, especially in a country that is used to terror. But, yes, regarding the question you were asking me earlier, about the personification of the Russian threat—in a way, I was one of the originators of that narrative, when I wrote a book about Putin, and now I find myself in the very strange position of saying, “Come on, he’s not that kind of monster. He is a different kind of monster, but not the kind of monster who has masterminded the takeover of the entire Western world.” He doesn’t have the mind for that kind of masterminding, among other things."
https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-new-yorker-interview/masha-and-keith-gessen-on-writing-about-russia
That was Masha Gessen encapsulating American reader response to Putin-centric narratives. In that interview by her brother, also a writer, Ms Gessen acknowledged that her book contributed to "the personification of the Russian threat".
I always find that Ms Gessen's matter-of-fact delivery on Putin shortcomings - grounds the omnipotent myth quite satisfactorily. Equally compelling, Keith Gessen's book ‘A Terrible Country’ got a Times review as a country "That’s Impossible Not to Love".
Russia is dangerous to us, no doubt, but we can only exacerbate - by settling with any pigeonhole. Read.
1
Putin is very shrewd and is in charge of a powerful adversary. Unfortunately or Fortunately hes also the poster boy for the military industrial complex that's sent 700 billion of USA taxpayer funds this year to feed the machine to keep him at bay. This is great if your a shareholder of these companies building the war machines. Not so great for the American deficit. The big question is he playing the same game to us today as we played to them forcing the USSR to collapse in 1998.
2
Some reports by the well established mass media have asserted that Putin has hidden billions of dollars for himself outside of Russia, like the dictator of some small country in anticipation of eventually having to leave office by flight from his country. This is a typical for autocrats who are confident of the control which they have as rulers.
Many years ago I read an article about the Office of President of the United States. It said many of the same things which this article says about the power of Putin. The Presidency of the United States is a very powerful office but the ability to get things done depends on the time, effort, and political capital that a President is willing to use on a given issue. If the President wants to push an issue and uses political capital and effort then he/she gets things done. If the President says he supports something but doesn't push it; then the issue is likely to die because there will be people around the President or in the bureaucracy who don't support it and/or don't push it.
This is basically a problem common to large organizations. Whether it is a government, corporation, university, the Roman Catholic Church, or other organization, they eventually get to be so big that the top executive cannot know everything. And remember that every person's day is 24 hours long; even with the best of intentions few leaders can keep track of everything in a very large organization. Stalin was noted for his will power and ruthlessness/brutality, but there were no doubt many things which he forgot about or did not know about.
3
Every Russian ruler since Peter the Great has wanted to modernize the country so that it could develop the kind of powerful and prosperity that it was seeing in Europe to the West. In every case, they have been unable to unify the country and to create a country where people could freely work together for the benefit of all. In the end, the most consistent institutions have been secret police, internal spy agencies, and informant networks and continual efforts to suppress this or that faction as well as to accommodate factions too powerful to eliminate. Even after the storm of Revolution the same dynamics re-emerged. The secret police and internal institutions of suppression went from supporting the czars to the Communist state. The aristocracy was expelled but new factions arose that operated autonomously like the military which never feel under the authority of the political leadership. In the end Russia never really changed in how it worked and worked ineffectively.
During World War II, only the U.S.S.R. could defeat the huge and highly mechanized forces of Germany’s military. Hundreds of division fought with millions of people over many thousands of square miles. No other country could field so many against Germany. But the battles were slaughters with Soviet forces attacking with fewer weapons than soldiers and NKVD battalions behind them shooting any who retreated. Russia today still depends upon the expendability of its people to hold it’s state together.
7
I wondered about this, too, after listening to hundreds of Muscovite rock and rollers do a flash mob rendition of Joan Jett's "I Love Rock and Roll," for rock music has long been the staple of rebellious youth. But, then, I did a little research and discovered that one of Putin's daughters participates in a rock and roll sport, and her father is building the only performance venue for athletic rock and roll performances. Like any father, he wants his daughters to be happy. He can make anything happen if he wants it bad enough.
It seems to me that Putin's rule is not so much a Dictator like Stalin, but organized crime made up of several families. There is what is said out side the families and what they say to each other. There could be some advantage to seem to be at odds inside. It may calm the public to think you are not too big and are working against the (Deep Kremlin) to help the people. You promise a Freeway you get the money you fight the corrupt system and Bingo the money is all gone. The bad guy locals officials stole it, but in fact most of it is still in his pocket and still no Freeway. Repeat as long as you can get away with it. And always keep an eye out to the next scapegoat .
I sincerely hope that this article was a gambit by your Moscow correspondent to position himself and gain access to more globally significant political information. If not, it shows a woeful inability to see the forest for the trees and, as many others have pointed out, a grasp of history and politics inadequate to the task of contextualizing Mr. Putin's rule.
2
You mean, it's possible some wacky bureaucrats, military leader, or 400 pounders sitting in their dacha bedroom, might have hacked the DNC without Putin's knowledge? You mean, not every single even that occurs in Russia or from Russia (with love) is controlled by Vlad.
Shocking.
Truly shocking.
You know, it could be like Henry II, saying to a few cronies, he really didn't care for Thomas Becket anymore, and voila, Thomas is gone. So is it possible that some shadowy intel guys wanted to give Vlad a nice present and try to make sure HRC didn't win?
Or was just her poorly run campaign and lack of personal appeal -- and calling Trump supporters despicables.
I would not be surprised if much of Putin's influence and supposed strategic prowess is a creation of the US media looking, as always, to sensationalize everything.
1
Trump is a Putin "wanna-be".
He clearly admires Putin and is intimidated by him.
History will one day draw an eye-popping map delineating the trail and the after-effects of this relationship.
Trump openly daydreams of the power and wealth he could generate by converting the United States Of America to his principal business by purging all Democrats from the U. S. Congress and the Federal courts.
4
@Political Genius I agree that The Con Don is a Putin "wanna-be." But fortunately for us The Con Don is basically lazy and incompetent. Go back and read about The Donald's efforts at deal making and being a business man. There are several books out about his activities in the 1980's and 1990's. He would have a higher net worth today if he had never gone into the casinos.
He was a success as a pretend businessman on The Apprentice. On that show, the producers told him when and who to fire, etc. The Donald does excel at PR.
Being a real live dictator or President takes work to stay on top of what is going on and who is doing what.
2
Ah yes this is the Russia I remember, from study abroad in ‘92 at the Moscow Energy Institute to 4 years (‘93 - ‘97) in the trenches with USAID and USIA sub contractors in Russia and then Central Asia. One big chaotic, amorphous, self contradicting, confusing, corrupt, Byzantine, ridiculous, infuriating, hilarious, conglomeration of competing actors, sectors, departments, ministries, ministers, sub ministers, deputy sub ministers, assistant deputy sub minister, secretaries to assistant deputy sub ministers, all looking for their own little piece of the post Soviet pie. Good to see the years haven’t changed my beloved Russia.
3
With The church, security services and head of state all in control, what possibly could go wrong? Right wing life goals.
2
Putin is not so much a "dictator" but rather a "prioritizer". He understands that you can walk a dog and get somewhere while still letting it have a bit of leash to run to and fro. It doesn't mean Putin isn't in overall control, but it also doesn't mean he tells the dog where to answer the call of nature and how. It's a system that works. In the end, the man and dog are both happy and where they want to be.
1
The bridge is built.
If we have to admire Putin’s presidency is his undeniably love for his motherland. Putin regardless of the sanctions, he has been able to push his country forward in every aspect. Putin has been able to unify his country, also giving Muslims the freedom to build in Moscow one of the biggest mosques in the world. The United States of America, has been mingling in other countries affairs, particularly Latin America. The United States of America has pushed the right wing ideology, destroying democratically elected leftist governments.
2
Very interesting, but I wonder whether those mythical all-powerful dictators really exist anywhere. The article mentions Stalin, and he may have been an example. But I have an impression that Germany under Hitler was pretty chaotic: he would make ambiguous remarks, and people would refer to him as the authority for however they chose to interpret his words, in their own spheres of authority. Or, so I have heard. It may well be that "A properly run dictatorship..." is not the most common version.
4
Vlad's filthy rich and has for his exclusive use a large military and intelligence agencies. If that's not power what is? Only the Russian mob has anything like Vlad's power and they work with and for him.
2
He's as powerful as the media chooses to portray him in this country.
2
Well, from my simplistic viewpoint, everything changes, people age and pass on, new leaders or revolution results in a leaders death and nothing is the same as before. The world will change when two powerful world leaders die; i.e. Chinas leader and Russia's leader. Both are over sixty years old and both probably only have about 20-30 years left on this earth.
It is difficult to engage with criminals with out becoming a criminal yourself. Putin is first and foremost a criminal. The increased criminality of politics is going to be a problem for a very long time. The reluctance of the US to join anything even smelling of a world court is telling. We have a lot of criminality here too. Huge. I believe our isolationism here is driven by fear of prosecution for actions that in most of the civilized world are crimes. Obama himself could be tried and convicted of War Crimes for civilian deaths at the hands of his drone attacks. That is only the tip of the monumental iceberg of the Bush years, Guantanamo, Haspel, torture memos, where does it end? Well it ended with a criminal in the White house working for another criminal in the Kremlin. Criminals give other criminals a free pass if they possibly can, like Obama and Wall Street. Until we actually outlaw criminality we're going to be subjected to the theft of nearly everything we hold dear. Elections, environment, infrastructure, our Constitution, all are under assault from rampant criminality. Dealing with political criminality is actually the first step to saving the planet. Rich criminality loves political criminality. Criminals love to say, "there's a sucker born every minute." How long are we going to be those suckers?
4
He has atomic weapons and the means to deliver them! That's pretty powerful in my book. He's been successful in destabilizing western democracies including helping elect Donald Trump. That's very powerful as well. It may not be communism; it may not even be a traditional authoritarian strongman rule, but he's clearly the capo di tutti capi of a criminal enterprise.
2
Not so subtle change of narrative, at a not so subtle time: just when Mueller's report is about to be released (or not released), we now learn that maybe Putin had not the power to interfere in the election. How convenient.
I believe The New York Times understands how much it /looks/ treacherous, and how much it seamingly confirms Trump's critics of the media.
Two years. Lost waiting for a report. And where is the fake news now? So what, Trump is only Trump? He's already too much to bear anyway.
At least when all this mess is over, the US might finally reach a catharsis. There is still hope.
1
I think that when we think of autocrats we think of strong leaders heading states in which all institutions are controlled by the autocrat and all people must obey or be suppressed. Russia has never had that kind of autocracy. Peter the Great and all governments since could never achieve that kind of control but each could impose enough fear of outright rebellion to achieve a balance of social forces.
But Russia despite huge efforts over generations has always been a below average performer both internationally and domestically. So it is today. It’s economy is based upon selling natural resources to the world. Technologically and scientifically, nearly every modern state does better. The reason that Putin longs for the U.S.S.R. is the same reason that the Kim family have kept North Koreans in a war mentality, to keep the poor performance of the domestic lives of people acceptable because of the external threat to the country. Russia cannot offer any value added goods beyond weapons of war that anyone elsewhere wants. In that respect Russia is like Afghanistan which has only one strong product to offer, opium.
Russian governments rely upon autocrats to keep it from just falling apart into chaos. Only during invasions and periods of national peril have Russians ever been able to unite. The kind of peaceful life with people working to better themselves and creating a symbiotic system as we have known for over two hundred years is alien to Russians.
2
It does not matter whether Putin is or is not in charge. There is still the war against Ukraine the occupation of Crimea and part of Georgia the interference in our elections and in the Brexit vote in Britain. These are acts against perceived rivals all over the world.
2
Though I enjoyed this essay, for a really good look inside Putin's Russia (and it is his Russia, more than any other Russian's) read "Red Notice by Bill Browder. If you haven't read that book then you probably don't know why there is a Magnitsky Act, the US legislation which Putin's boys were trying to get the Trump campaign (and administration) to overturn.
I would rather overestimate Putin's power than underestimate it. There are rumors now that he is also the wealthiest person in the world have required tribute from the oligarchy for many years now. It would certainly add to the explanation of why Russia is such a third world nation despite its vast resources. Putin and his friends have bled it dry.
But give the man this; he has the best poker face in the world... So instead of laughing at us, he can shrug his denials with that secretive smile. He is quite good at what he does...
3
The timing of this article is pretty weird. For two years, the evidence has been pointing at a masterful campaign pointing directly at Mr Putin's Russian interference in the US election, carefully placed methods of psychological swaying of calculated sections of US society.
At the very time that the Special Counsel has finished its work, we get a picture of a society so complex, full of historical and arcane ideologies, that it is not as hierarchal as Americans have been educated to believe.
The impression that e are left with is that Putin and his administration should be left off the hook, or at least that he is not as ruthless as we were led to believe all because he ordered the release of one Jehovah's Witness.
The mixing of two story lines, JH and Putin's political influence, is a little too concocted.
2
Putin is running the largest country in the world. A country that size requires millions of bureaucrats. No Putin cannot run every single town, oblast, or local government. He has to depend on local governors. Those that are on the other side of the Urals are more independent than say the Governor pf the Moscow government. But make no mistake, a local official who really messes up, Putin will hear about it and deal with him personally. And ot won't be a good ending.
But Putin has always placed his main emphasis and attention on strengthening the miliary, using the latest technology to create some really innovative weapons. Thew new T-90 tank is infinitely superior to any tank in the Nato or US military. Some of America's allies are choosing to buy Russian weapons instead of US weapons.
In the world of espionage Putin is undoubtedly very, very familiar, if not personally suggesting missions for his clandestine warriors. Look at how easily he seized Crimes, look at the Kerch bridge etc,
Don't underestimate this man. If something is high on his list of projects - rest assured he has the power and authority to get it done. If he feels or learns that some official is doing his job inefficiently, rest assured Putin has the power to remove that guy from his job and see he goes to prison.
Putin is the iron fist in a velvet glove, whereas Stalin was all iron fist.
1
I'd say the internet has been and will continue to be a wonderful tool for Russian interference. They don't need any expensive weapons, etc. etc.; all they need is some great hacking experts, which they have. I think they may be able to seriously hurt or even bring down democracies this way.
1
This is the inherent problem with kleptocracies. Once the population believes that the entire system is fraudulent then the maximum number of people will try to get their fraudulent slice too. It trickles down into everything.
A friend of mine in South Africa explained many years ago to me that all the grants for his theater company were essentially "skimmed" at 10-20% by the corrupt bureaucracy before he ever saw a penny. It was simply "the cost of doing business."
This is why the more we let POTUS diminish the rule of law in favor of HIS rule you will see a trickle down effect here that will eventually more fully corrupt the economy and muck up its gears. That is the ironic fate of all autocracies. They cannot flourish because the population is essentially demoralized and suicidal.
Maximum personal freedom is a much better system for motivating entrepreneurs and many of America's greatest inventors also came from immigrant stock. Will POTUS destroy our freedoms for short-term economic gain and long-term suicide?
I sincerely feel for those in small towns which once thrived in the years of coal & factory industries and have now become depopulated, but banking on a demagogue is unacceptable to anyone who actually cherishes freedom. And it will eventually lead to a USA that looks more like dysfunctional Russia. Anyone but Agent Orange in 2020.
4
I don't believe that Putin controls every aspect of life in Russia at every second, but I do believe that if Putin had really wanted Mr. Christensen released, he would be a free man today. What better way to prove the independence of the judiciary than by decrying a ruling that you privately favor? I also believe the governing apparatus is smart enough to read between the lines and do more or less what Putin wants even without direct or specific instructions.
2
Good article. Vladimir Putin is doing what any president, dictator or authoritarian chief in charge of the nation-state would do: to take care of his country national sovereignty. The means to achieve such goals is irrelevant to internal national security being only relevant to detractors to the president (eg: Muller and white house current resident collusion's coup's d'état). This analogy should serve as an example of how good white house get a long with Putin and North Korea leaders. Yet, such a relation is very much abhorrent to detractors.
Russia is very dependent on oil and gas export, in fact its economy would collapse without it.
That’s why the EU, its biggest customer, could expand into former Warsaw Pact countries with only Crimea as a small setback in the bigger scheme, all on Putin’s watch.
This aspect of globalization has been under-appreciated lately.
2
What's the point of this article? Who or what are the other "power centers" in Russia besides Putin, especially on important matters?
Mr. Higgins asks us to rethink the meme that Putin is all powerful in all aspects of Russian society. OK, but what does that mean? Should we end the sanctions regime in order to give more "liberal" Russians breathing space to form a real opposition or should we tighten sanctions even more (despite Trump) and take advantage of the "dysfunction" Mr. Higgins describes?
Also, while we're rethinking Russian memes, can we finally dispel this one, that Mr. Higgins asks us to accept without question:
"And after he came to power at the end of 1999, he effectively curbed the conspicuous disorder and noisy infighting that under his frequently drunk predecessor, Boris Yeltsin, left Russia with a state that barely functioned."
That "conspicuous disorder and noisy infighting" was a nascent democracy trying to find its feet that got precious little institutional or financial help from the West (ironically, George Soros was one of the few who tried). Instead, we invested all of our money in authoritarian China of all places!
6
@trblmkr: Well, you're right, there was the possibility of a nascent democracy, but that might not have been the "disorder and noisy infighting" referred to. But yes, you're right, it was terrible how the "West" sent our fanatical free-market privateers, and right-wing crazies like David Duke, into the post Soviet turmoil.
This sure doesn't add to the narrative. How can we monger fear for various purposes if our country's diabolical arch-nemesis is somehow inept, human or not in "full control". We'll need to shift it from an 'evil empire' to an 'evil bureaucracy'. But would that - and a 5 foot tall Darth Vader - have worked for Star Wars?
2
Leader of Russia for 18 years. He is powerful. His country may not be perfect but he is in charge. To the extent things do not get done it is probably because he does not care about the issue. Underestimate Putin at your peril.
74
Putin has control of the armed forces and the secret service, hence he is extremely powerful. Controlling these is the one tenet of power and influence that is necessary and has been proven throughout history.
Of course, he does not control everything but he has the power to execute, at the highest level, the swiftest and most brutal intervention. Fear not Putin at your risk and peril.
13
@Kevin
Exactly. The bureaucracy may be bumbling as the article said, but it is exactly as you say.
7
@Kevin
Yes, a strong, strong man. A man who has, through sheer force of will, overcome his diminutive stature to become one of the most corrupt leaders of of one of the most corrupt and destructive nations in history.
Powerfully imperfect and perilously close to destroying what is left of his country.
16
Yet another example of allowing far too much power, even in little drips here and there, to amass in the hands of a faceless, utterly unaccountable bureaucracy. Yes, the leader, whomever they may be, certainly has control over the big things (more or less, depending on the form of government, time and place) but it can ultimately be slowed, shifted and/or corrupted by the individual desires and yens of those with far less power, whether working in concert or in isolation yet still producing "death by a thousand cuts".
People, here and abroad, often want to have faith in "government" usually meaning a particular politician or party, yet those politicians come and go, while the bureaucrats and lower functionaries can linger for decades. It may still generally work out, though with massive inefficiency and tremendous cost and waste; but it often is so sclerotic that little gets done besides helping the functionaries and their cronies survive. For a local example, how long has the MTA been inept, wasteful and inefficient, with one mayor or governor railing about it and promising to fix this or that? Yet the organization itself does - or doesn't do, more importantly - pretty much what it wants. On the national level we have lots of duplication, yet agencies never shrink or go away, with defenders screaming about "drawing government" as if that could happen.
16
@George S
To take an article about political power in Russian and turn it into a Ayn Randian diatribe on small government?
We don't have anywhere near the corruption here as exists in Russia. What you call wasteful,inefficient, and sclerotic is mainly due to the fact that our system allows even the average citizen to seek and find redress. Does it go too far, sometimes yes but it is not nearly so bad as you make it out to be. I'll take some inefficiency over rule by fiat any day.
Oh, and your example of the MTA. You can blame the hyper-efficient strongman Robert Moses for much of that. His refusal to allow commuter trains and "els" to run on the median strips of his beloved parkways made eventual train and subway construction much more expensive and drawn out than it had to be.
9
@George S, we've been slashing government in Oklahoma for quite some time. Yes indeed agencies shrank. Schools falling apart, no Medicare expansion and ill health and high infant mortality to show for it. Roads in disrepair, prisons beyond redemption. Depression and drug use high. Employment is great though, as long as you don't need a living wage. Earthquakes for the people and subsidies for frackers. It's your kind of place, George--why live in NY when you could have what we have here...
4
@George S Jeepers, I thought you were taking about CA choo choo train to nowhere, HI's high speed line to maybe somewhere someday or McCray's ThriveNYC.
Thank goodness I live in a one party state with terrific schools, roads in great condition, and intelligently managed water resources (sorry, my mistake).
Read Midnight in Chernobyl to understand the recent structure and responses of the State and Putin's role today. A missing economic middle class and actual rule of law could be keys to change.
1
Mr Putin is powerful and has the respect of his people, just like the leader of China has. Both probably only have about 20 years of life left, at the most, so when both die, both countries, China and Russia, will probably end up in turmoil, as it is not often powerful respected leaders come along, that rule over such complicated, large, government organisations, such as their nations have.
1
@CK
If people want to stay alive then they have to jump when the insane leaders say jump you say how high or they will starve you or put you on re-education camps, kill you So loyalty isn’t for real.
Since dictators don’t have an economic model that works. They will always be spinning wool into gold. Trump needs to go to Russia and fit in with the shoddy looking building, Pence allowed a religious rights leader to visit Russia in February ,meeting with a high level sanctioned individual, besides selling out Americans was he searching for a site for Trumps hotel!
Putin is a dictator probably as slow as Trump and for all his years in power he still governs a very poor country that like other dictators talk a good game but deliver nothing to citizens except hate, poverty and fake dreams,
We should just stop indulging in this fantasy of the all-powerful dictator. Putin isn't one, because there is hardly such a thing. States, societies, economies, especially large ones, are much too complex for any dictator, no matter how "powerful", to be able to run them to his will. A dictator typically has to rely on a security apparatus and on some kind of oligarchy to back him; he cannot go against them, because if he does, well, he's just a man.
The "well-run dictatorship" is a very dangerous fantasy, because it always leaves the suspicion that chaos is a democratic weakness, or that a "strong leader" could solve problems with just the will to do it. It is just a fantasy. Even Xi is severely constrained in what he can really achieve. I bet that even Kim is.
27
@Passer-by
There are dictators and authoritarians. That's all you need to know.
4
You nailed it
2
@Passer-by
Perfectly stated! The question is, what and who drive this fantasy? I think it's more political/power-motivated than just some deep-seated need for order or a father figure.
2
This description matches perfectly with a conversation I had several years ago at a social gathering with a banker who attempted to set up a branch office in Russia---After two years, he explained to me, he called up his CEO in the states and said, we are out of here. In his words, you just cannot do business in Russia---the corruption, the endless bureaucratic hoops, unreliable employees---at one point, he told a bureaucrat "does anyone in this country want our money?" If there is one belief that I have changed over the years it is the relationship between central governments and the market system---you need just the right balance---tipping in one direction you end up with a dysfunctional Russian style economy. Tipping in the other direction you end up with the Boeing tragedies.
68
@Amanda Jones Yes, the right balance is critical. Sometimes the best legislation is none and maintaining status quo.
Current POTUS is an X factor towards an uncertain future of potential autocratic rule like Russia. He is the greatest danger to the democratic republic who has ever occupied the Oval Office.
9
@Amanda Jones It may be more complex yet. A mix has a broader range of results. A mix can take the form of corruption or fascism. Then again a mix can be a wonderful hybrid of public and private sectors synergizing hand in hand. Pure centralization or decentralization assures you of a certain simple mediocrity but cannot attain the highest possibilities.
2
Putin is not all-powerful in the same way that an American president is not. However, he is powerful enough to enrich himself with billions, fix elections, reward his allies and have his enemies jailed or killed. He also has an extensive intelligence network operating all over the world and, it would seem, helped to put Donald Trump in the White House.
So while the prosecution of Dennis Christiansen is a violation of basic human rights and freedoms, does not in any way mean that Putin is losing his grip on power.
105
@Jack Sonville Having his enemies killed is a sign of weakness not strength. Nemtsov death is a dark spot on his presidency, the story is murky and is an obvious embarrassment for him personally. All signs show that he was killed on the orders of Kadyrov. Putin can't press Kadyrov too much the same way Trump can't press MBS.
6
Both stories are true. Putin firmly controls everything that matters to us in the West. The Russian ICBM's, obviously, but also he has full control over his spies poisoning enemies abroad or his intelligence agencies hacking and disrupting foreign opponents. And his armed forces waging war in Ukraine.
That he is not fully able to control every single one of his millions of citizens is hardly surprising. Corruption and the failure of infrastructure projects where thousands of people are involved is very difficult to control or to put the blame on any one person.
Some Jehova's Witness will hardly be one of Putin's real priorities where he invests his political capital. Jehova's Witnesses are considered an extremist sect in most of the world excluding the United States. Just as the organized crime syndicate Scientology is still recognized as a church in America, a notion Europeans only scoff at.
190
@GS - Russia is very large, and the Emperor is far away ...
3
@GS
On the whole your comment makes sense, but comparing Jehovah's Witnesses to Scientology is a grievous insult to the Witnesses, who are weird (like many other religions) but not a crime syndicate.
14
“It happens time and again that the president says something, and then nothing or the opposite happens.” ...says Putin's apparatchik!
Sure, when it looks good to say "we should be more liberal" Putin will say that, to avoid responsibility for the actual draconian activities of his machine. (He could easily get the Jehovah's Witness set free, but doesn't.) And when it strengthens his hand, he'll have people say that he's weaker than he is.
It's naive to buy anything Putin (or people on his committees) says, no matter how disarming it may sound.
3
Marquis de Custine visited Russia in 1839. A selection oh his Letters From Russia, edited by Anka Muhlstein, are available as an NYRB book. There is also a very old (about twenty years?) different selection,published by Penguins. It could have been written last fall. I reread some of it each time Russia does something, anything, deserving praise. This leaves me with a lot of time for other, less funny and bloodcurdling books to read.
1
There is a comprehensive and compelling argument that Putin is run by the oligarchs
1
Putin’s power is targeted at his goals:
Bring back the power, success and glamour of St. Petersburg; bring back some of the empire size and power; become a major player on certain parts of the world stage ( increase influence especially in the Middle East).
Give some respect back to religion.
Disrupt the cohesion and functioning of some of the major democracies of the world.
Day to day life of the Russian masses isn’t as great a concern for Putin.
3
A couple years ago I was speaking with a business associate from the Netherlands. He had done a great deal of business across Russia and when I queried him on Putin he replied that Putin runs Moscow, but that the rest of the country is run by the mafia. I guess we call them oligarchs, who both do and don't pay tribute to Moscow.
5
@Jack Frederick
Sounds just like the political mafia called the GOP.
They destroy states to enrich themselves.
Putin has been able to enforce enough control in areas that mattered to him (rearmament, bridge-building in Crimea, Crimea, war in the Donbass, Syria, olympic games, etc...).
What makes Russia appear like a badly-managed chaotic basket-case of a dictatorship is the fact that this dictatorship is also a kleptocracy. The goal of the state is not absolute control. The goal of the state is instead to unleash the packs of rabid kleptocrats associated with Putin, on a society that is seen as a carcass ready for the picking. In fact, if the state imposed too much centralized control, this would interfere with the kleptocratic project that underpins the whole Putinistan.
The lack of proper management and systematic state control is thus intended. This imperfect centralized control makes it possible for the kleptocratic class to maximize their interactions in the worlds of business, government and organised crime, simultaneously. Don't be fooled, this is still a dangerous foe intent on spreading its own form of religion: theft. And intent on destroying its mortal enemy: democracy.
3
Your thoughts and looking forward to your next piece addressing how Russians hacked our elections. That's the number one issue and threat to our Democracy on Putin's Russia and we don't have answers.
4
Well, thanks to Putin's PR Machine, the NYT and the Democrats, he appears invincible.
Angela Merkel is closer to being one of Putin's puppets than Trump. Nord Stream is the most important project on Putin's agenda. Trump suggested to Merkel that maybe the project should be shut down.
Merkel and Putin's eyes rolled back into their heads when they heard the comment.
1
Why does It sound like the Russians wrote this as it published at the same time the Mueller report is released? I don't believe any of it.
2
Putin's Russia does stand out. In a detailed Wikipedia study on political and business corruption in the world, Russia is ranked in 138th place. His crew and their crews have been running the country for a long time now. Russia was corrupt under its royalty, more corrupt under Communism and far more corrupt nowadays. From business oligarchs down to cab-drivers - it permeates their society. That same study places China in 78th place - notably more trustworthy than the Russians. The Danes were #1.
4
I would like a NYT story about the current reality for USA tourists to Russia.
For visa, does one have to document every p,ace one has worked for decades? And if so, does this present a danger for people who have served in US military?
Are there special security risks? And what about the street crime in such an extreme “haves/ have nots” society?
As may be, but beware: this paper tiger bites.
1
It helps Putin that he has the American President in his corner.
4
Vlad's riding the tiger....don't get off Vlad or he'll eat you...
I wish the reporters who threw together the dumb story with Putin presented as a cyclops( a mythic monster) had read this story. Putin sits on top of a dilapidated Romanov like ramshackle mess. The neo McCarthyite Washington wants to present Russia as some sort of super villain against the virtuous nice people in the US. The Russians gave us Donald Trump. The NYTs screams the Ukrainian coup was a spontaneous democratic overthrow of a tyranny. Ukraine, in fact, had a right wing coup against a legitimate gov't there. Now the present Ukrainian gov't acts pretty much like the previous regime. Except it has neo Nazi white supremist actors behind it. But Russia invaded Crimea. Of course nothing is mentioned about the fact that Crimea housed some of Russia's largest military bases. The area has almost no ethnic Ukrainians. A regime had come into power explicitly denouncing Russians. They could kiss Crimea good bye. Putin and the Russian Orthodox Church have powerful alliance. Nationalism is played up as in other eastern European countries. Russian oligarchs control the economy. Russian military strength is wildly over estimated to drive up Pentagon funding increases. And the chaos on social media is laid Russia's door. When in fact it was the effect of ridiculously poor oversight by the market place.
3
I lived in Somoza's Nicaragua for a few months in 1975. One thing I learned is that not all dictators come in the same flavors as Pol Pot or Chairman Mao or Stalin. The Somoza's ran Nicaragua for many years, and even though there was a press, and a capitalist society, all political executive power resided with the Somoza family. This also meant that they reaped enormous economic benefits sitting at top the economic pyramid. I view Putin in much the same way. The very essence of his power is through economic control of oligarchs and others. For him to make a statement with regard to the Jehovah Witnesses really has no significance whatsoever in his power structure. He can make the statement and if it is not given any weight whatsoever, it really means nothing at all with regard to the structure of his power. It is merely a statement made by Putin, without him actually exercising any of his executive power to change the status of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia. In other words, it's nonsensical to put any weight on such a statement with regard to Putin's power. There's plenty of other evidence which indicates that Putin has very extensive power, especially over life and death, which when it gets right down to it, is the ultimate expression of dictatorial power.
30
He’s very powerful. Trump just gave away the Golan Heights to Netanyahu. Jewish lobbying of Trump and Jewish Russian-born oligarchs around Putin, plus Israel’s and Saudi Arabia’s legitimization of Putin as Middle East player sealed this deal. Putin is a global player specially in that quartet of thugs: Saudi Arabia MBS, Netanyahu, Erdogan and Trump. Assad is a supplicant
Putin has a lot to show for domestically as global prestige gains have piled up. Then you have his cunning Balkanization of Russia and the former Soviet Republics by dividing them along national, ethnic, language, religious lines and voila, you end up with powerless regions. Likewise, he’s been trying this approach in the E.U., Brexit the first major casualty, Trump’s move to weaken NATO, interference in the Catalan independence movement, support for nationalistic/ white supremacist leaders in Eastern Europe, interference in the US elections. The probable health sabotaging of US diplomatic personnel in Havana and China by the use of microwave tech & you create mistrust . And of course, domestically suppression of the press, political parties, jailing of potential challengers, free expression (Pussy Riot), support of the Orthodox Church, jailing of oligarchs that were close to Yeltsin, support of the military / intelligence service and you have 18 yrs of unmitigated absolute power. While there has always been feeble opposition, he’s been quick to destroy it, and no one has said anything.
8
@Ted. Putin plays the interna, tional game the way Trump runs his business and is acting presidential: they both operate by innuendo, as Michael Cohen explained of Trump. Both men apparently expect others to act on their “suggestions” which are, in fact, the things they want to do. The difficulty is that these underlings have to figure out what that is first. For the rest of us it means that there are no fingerprints, no papers signed, no phone calls recorded in which you will find a direct correlation between words and actions. Indeed, with Trump if you wait five minutes he’ll tell you the opposite of what he just said! Deniability is uppermost in the life of both these men and yet their negative intentions are completely out in the open. The problem is that they reveal to all of us the true level of ethical and moral cowardice of those around them. In Russia this may have always been the case, but in the US our words and deeds matched just a little better. Until now: McConnell? Graham? Mr No Constitution and Mr. No Friendship too Deep You Can’t Abandon It.
1
@Ted
How can you distinguish a plausible "Putin wish list" of preferred outcomes from what he actually has or could determine? Demonstrating causation in a fair sample of these would seem necessary. The question is not how Putin could have significantly influenced Brexit or Trump's election, but did he? If he was neither sufficient nor necessary for these events to have occurred, then there's a fair chance that these accusations are, themselves, political efforts to change outcomes.
1
Is it possible that a writer for The Times could be so naive? I read the first 3 paragraphs and thought to myself "sounds great to hear Putin talk about how nonsensical it is to persecute people for their religion and no, I don't believe a word of what he says!" The ACTIONS that took place after those words were spoken seem pretty much IN CHARACTER for me for the man who allows homosexuals to be beaten to death and who has NOT, to date, called THAT conduct "a total nonsense". What he SAYS and what his actions ARE are entirely different and this has been borne out by his conduct over many many years. IF it's true that his hold on power isn't has absolute as people think, it's certainly not because he hasn't been able to stop persecutions of innocent people within the vile country he rules.
5
Look at the body count and argue with the dead.
4
Putin controls the Russian narrative and that's all that counts. It's all about orthodox white supremacy and making Russia great again. Where have I heard that before?
7
Money laundering - money laundering - money laundering ! Andrew you got this article published in the middle of a bunch of other news and well-done, but you shouldn't leave out the amorality that all this Russian wealth inspires -
The power vertical is an artificial nervous system that runs up and down in Russia's bureaucracy, distributing perks and prerogatives to an official cadre who then rake in bajillions from the citizenry, ruble by ruble, vacuumed out of the pockets of a compliant but increasingly unruly business community -
The biggest problem that Putin faces is how to insure that this money eventually resurfaces in legitimate financial networks, free from FCPA lien or prying eyes curious as to its origin -
Running the country is just something Putin does to make the whole system of money laundering easier, or at least less unprotected from US sanctions -
The whole enterprise has become consumed by how to move its cash out of Russia, or at the very minimum into hard assets that require intensely stressful protection from arbitrary expropriation -
And so thus exist the money laundering schemes to purchase real estate in London and Miami, to fund insurance policies via Latvian banking subsidiaries and Panamanian shell companies, to sponsor sports teams from Chelsea to something that alliterates with 'Ch' in some other part of the world -
Of course Putin is a nebulous gray smudge - His only concern is to keep the money flowing -
7
How powerful is Vladimir Putin? Whatever he hits, he destroys.
4
"I never ruled Russia. Ten thousand clerks ruled Russia."
Czar Alexander (alleged)
2
Oh please. People looking for a well-oiled machine that transmits orders directly from the Supreme Commander down to soldiers in the field will be very disappointed with Russia. They have never been like that. Russia harnesses the slow and relentless power of disorganization and formlessness. That's how they defeated Naopoleon and Hitler. Their emblematic weapon, the AK-47, is not of high quality, but requires no great skills to make and does not jam. Putin unleashes the power of chaos, doubt and disinformation upon the US electoral system. Isn't that enough to do great damage?
3
The toadies for bad men like Putin/Trump/Kim are weaklings. That is a big reason why strongmen have such corrupt, incompetent regimes. Everybody is out for themselves and nobody ever wants to make hard decisions.
5
'the president says something, and then nothing or the opposite happens'
ha ha ! sounds like his friend DJT currently suffering the nerves per-Mueller report publication
wanting to look all-powerful winner - but reality something less ... ?
although I did hear that Putin came to power after probably setting off an explosion that killed many Russians so he could claim the need for law and order - an entry point for many fascist dictators - and that he's killed so many people along the way to gain and retain power that he can't ever leave the top job as he would then certainly be killed by any of the many enemies he's made along the way.
Hopefully US folk will be kinder on the demise of the bouffant.
2
For Vladimir Putin, gaining control of the Russian kleptocracy is virtually impossible while gaining control of Donald Trump is ridiculously easy. No one who knows anything about Russia would tell you that the entrepreneurial bureaucracy that has long defined this decrepit nation was operating at the whim of a Hitler-like strongman. But that has nothing to do with Russia's foreign ventures. In fact, the oligarchy would naturally prefer to do business in the lawless realm of multi-national corporations and offshore accounts. For perhaps the first time in history, we have a trans-national oligarchy and a global mafia. Like all mob bosses, Putin and Trump gain control of wealth through blackmail and bribery. They don't need to control the entire bureaucracy, only the heavily armed part that does business in the shadows. The mafia and the CIA had their partnership, and perhaps still do. Russia's FSB and GRU are obviously mob connected, too.
4
Putin May or May not be the real leader of Russia. The truth is, why would he care either way? He is the leader of an international crime syndicate that has made him perhaps the richest man in the world. He has a puppet in the WH. That puppet has gotten rid of Peter Stzrok, the single greatest Russian spy catcher in FBI history. He has gotten rid of Andrew McCabe and neutered Bruce Ohr, two of the most effective Russian mob fighters of all time. He has sanctioned Venezuela to within inches of its life so it will default on loans and cede control of Citgo to Rosneft. Putin is rolling with Trumps help. It’s not about making Russia great again for Putin. It’s about making him even wealthier— and Trump gets to wet his beak.
4
@Scott Gerschwer .
I have read most of the posts, and this one is the most direct and to the point. Putin is cornering the market on oil while the west spins mindlessly around Trump and Brexit. As Putin's stooge, Trump has ceded control of the Middle East and Venezuela. He has bases in the North Sea and is encroaching on Norway. He roped Exxon into an Arctic venture and named Exxon's Chairman Rex Tillerson secretary of state. Next will come Nigeria and Indonesia. Follow the money and you'll find Putin's footprints.
1
In the years since World War 2 Russia has generally been seen as a powerful nation capable of doing great harm to democratic ideals. There is evidence of great harm in some of their incursions to other countries. We grew up with the spector of the James Bond type spy coming after us. The last few Russian leaders were presented as drunks, idiots or demons. Putin has brought the strong arm leader image in play against our own idiot. It has been very effective so far but what is the long game and have we misjudged the Soviet system to be stronger than it is and more capable of damage. So far we have seen Kim Jon of North Korea presented as the clear and present danger to our country. Have we all been played?
1
Putin is a liar, he always say one thing, "no little green men...", but then do the total opposite, "annex Crimea"...! Putin manipulate, lie to, media to hide the fact that he is an evil dictator with total complete power in, control over, Russia!
2
There is no limit to Vladimir Putin’s power: He determines the US President, gives Britain Brexit, incites rebellion in Catalonia, starts “yellow vest” riots in France, fights against NATO membership of Montenegro by trying to overthrow the government, hacks the DNC, spies on Americans and curdles milk, makes babies cry and puppies bark at shadows.
When he is gone, if he ever is, life in this world will return to the peaceful, honest and agreeable place it was before he assumed his evil powers.
4
Sounds like Saudi Arabia where MBS is going to let women drive but instead puts them in jail.
5
It is only in high school textbook histories that any era or leader or dictator is a simple one sentence phenomenon. Like George Washington = good Josef Stalin = bad. Any adult with intelligence understands the myriad of complexities in the actual world overlaid by the selections of the historic process, which of course is why we rehash events in terms of our present.
In reference to today´s Russia, Putin and the US, one of the brilliant counter-US moves that Russians have come up with is exposed the gaping weaknesses in the fabric of today´s USA - the "troll factory" accomplished with pennies what all that cold war massive Soviet effort failed to do - severely damaging the USA. Yet the very accomplished Russian trolls surely could not exist without the KGB and Putin´s deep understanding of its most frightening means to infiltrate and sabotage. I´ve been following these articles with great interest as the troll factory plus the ridiculous Maria Butina honey trap really is virtuoso spying and undermining: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/18/world/europe/russia-troll-factory.html
https://tinyurl.com/yyemnytn
https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/the-rise-and-fall-of-a-kremlin-troll
3
It is time to move on from Russia and Trump, Mueller's Report and lack of further indictments has put and end to this. The fanatical on both sides will argue every Jot & Tittle for decades; there are more productive things to do.
The Democrats must now focus on the 2020 campaign as the only way of removing Trump. They are now in a serious campaign with one of the most effective and dirtiest campaigners since Lyndon Johnson. The young people while they are fun, are in waay over their head here. Trump would have them for lunch and still be looking for more Big Macs.
We have a huge mess in our nation now, in addition we are going to need millions of people who voted for Trump to crossover and vote for a new, sane President. The Democrats cannot elect a President alone. It is time for an experienced, centrist candidate that the moderate of both sides can support. Once the Democrats have proven they are capable of reasonable governance, then in 2024, a more progressive President is possible.
2
Odd how an article that challenges the Left's two-dimensional view of Putin and Russia shows up AFTER the Mueller report is dropped. Heaven forbid the charade of every Russian being a Putin agent be exposed while Mueller was in the midst of his investigation - such a reveal would have been bad for numerous media sites.
How powerful is Putin? From all accounts, if you cross him, he gets you killed. That's pretty powerful.
4
Should one suppose that it is coincidence that Messrs. Putin and Trump buy extra-long ties that hang way too low?
It strikes me as a bit ironic. Deep state? Who knows, but we here have reason to be grateful to those possessed of power to not salivate like one of Pavlov's dogs every time their phone chimes at the arrival of a new tweet from our head of state and government.
Which is what we have been indoctrinated to believe is what was expected to happen in the scion of the Soviet Union. Nada on that, it seems.
It strikes me the reputed bromance may be one-sided. And the diplomat-in-chief is being gamed.
1
So Putin is very much like Trump, a puppet of the oligarchs, of the gilded robber barons. And the oligarchs don't care about their country, they just care about enriching themself and solidifying their power grab. The puppet is just a distraction with the purpose to blindfold their citizen by promoting an aggressive national politics while the country is rotting from the inside.
This is some kind of a slow moving Venezuela, some day the misery for the ordinary people is getting to much. And that's when the nationalistic puppets get unleashed and can become fascists.
2
"does he sit atop a state that is, in fact, shockingly ramshackle, a system driven more by the capricious and often venal calculations ......Putin or Trump ? Both ?
......Birds of a feather flock together.
2
If the state is the soul (of the leader) writ large, Russia is in good hands. Can’t say the same thing about the US.
That Putin has been able to sustain the “myth” that he is “at the top of an all-powerful ‘power vertical’” is that he employs a divide-and-rule strategy to maintain his grip on power. He strikes deals with the security apparatus, the Russian Orthodox Church, billionaire oligarchs, and lets over “a million and a half” of local “clearks” or “bureaucrats” to run the Mafia-state of their own volition.
Each group has “its own sometimes competing and sometimes overlapping interests.” They are rivals among themselves and don’t always translate his words into action. But they still need a figurehead to run the country.
This is where foreign policy serves Putin’s purpose – he has been able to portray himself as a global leader, vowing to restore Russia to its former glory.
He plays “Machiavellian” while “struggling just to hold an essentially decrepit system together” with the help of loyalists, like the Federal Security Service (FSB). Intelligence and security agencies benefit from the “chaotic setup” to enrich themselves. They don’t care that this system will not “attract foreign investors” that Putin seeks to woo, because he wants to diversify Russia’s economy. Unfortunately the mentality – get rich, there’s no to-morrow – prevails among government officials, leading to mass emigration and capital flight, when educated Russians have lost faith in their country.
3
Bill Browder's analysis of Putin is much closer to the truth. Just look to the Oligarchs in Northern Mongolia to see how General Putin rewards and punishes his subordinates.
Who cares about the tiny tin-pot dictator? Russia is a joke. All Russia has is Soviet nukes and gas/oil drilling. Russia never tried to be a global citizen and it is sad for Russians.
So instead all Russia does is act like a thug on the global stage and is given passes by the EU because it sells them gas. We should be empathetic to the brow-beaten Russians, not to their terrible leaders and government.
1
He is probably the richest man on earth. And yet when he dies he won’t be able to spend one ruble or sway another election. The whole point of striving for leadership shouldn’t be about acquiring wealth and power, it should be about a lasting legacy of brilliance and leaving a better place for your children. Putin will be remembered as a crime boss, a murderer of critics, a thief of national treasure.
6
Conspiracy theorists get many things wrong. One is that someone is "controlling everything". The simple fact is, Putin is an authoritarian leader, Russia is a very big and troubled country, and only a few of its problems are his fault.
And he did not 'get Trump elected'. What got Trump elected was foolishness by Democrats and Republicans.
1
It is, as we used to say in the old neighborhood, a fleabag operation....
Seems like the author may be a bit naive?
You actually believe that Putin meant what he said? At any time in his entirely corrupt and dishonest life ever? That quality of always being dishonest is one of the things he has in common with our dear leader.
I think you write a story that portrays a fantasy of what people think about Russia and how it operates not a story about how we think Russia operates and Putin's level of control in it.
Suffice it to say regardless of who does what with the delegated authority they may have at the varying government posts, if Putin wants something to happen it happens.
2
It is curious that at Catholic boarding school in France in early adolescence, I was reading 'Mein Kampf' in my student's cell overlooking a park surrounding a chateau, most likely occupied during the German invasion not so long after WWII.
A translation in English, and it was to be a first encounter with propaganda. Into the bin it went, un-assimilated by this reader, and then later on graduating from high school, came Karl Marx and his Das Capital at the national exams, a publication which I had forgotten to read for the philosophy tests. If you do not have a penny in the till and are only in possession of your school uniform, your economic views may veer in the direction of becoming an independent capitalist.
'Russia' was Tolstoy's Anna Karenina, War and Peace, and there I left off on these dark splendors, and went in search of Balzac. Our current president could give Mr. Putin a handsome large box, containing a smaller one, and lead to a final one containing a tiny elephant.
Who do you think is the most powerful leader in the world, I recently asked a neighbor, and he replied our 45th president. As for mention of Putin, he discarded any notion of superiority on the basis that he belonged to those 'dictatorship countries'.
The young Jehovah witness who likes to visit here for lack of a warm welcome from other neighbors is going to be told once again by this Catholic-born to be careful and where angels fear to tread.
Flowers for The Ukraine this early dawn.
There is just something in the Russian mind that does not understand bureaucracies. Just read some of their literature, Turgenev and especially Gogol's "Dead Souls." I think it is the result of centuries of serfdom and oppression. Serfs obeyed their masters but then worked as little as they could get away in order to survive. Its in their DNA. Bureaucracies have replaced Aristocracies.
1
I am skeptical of this article. It reads almost “too cute by half” that Putin is just shrugging his shoulders and saying “what do you mean my calls for openness and tolerance aren’t being heeded?” This article reads more like another propaganda article meant to actually boost Putin’s image and make the case that he should have more control.
I’d rather see an article about the relationship between Putin and his Oligarchs. Who is in control of whom? And what would happen to Putin’s power if the US used its own considerable cyber warfare prowess to seize all their money and assets?
So let's see for years we have been subjected to the propaganda that Putin is a brutal dictator and of course an enemy of the U.S. Now it seems, according to this article, thst he is a somewhat incompetent dictstor. Maybe the reality is that he just a pretty competent politiican (note the continuous support he has revceived over yesrs from the Russian people) who does his best to move the country to a better state. If you want to understand Russia and Putin why not at least listen to someone who has studied the country for years, namely, Stephen Cohen a retired professor of Russina history and who now writes for the Nation. His views on the reality of Russia are quite different than what you resd in the mainstream media (like the NYT) which has a distorted vision of reality.
This is like the ontological argument for the existence of God. The definition of a pantomime dictator requires the quality of absolute power. Ergo, Putin has absolute power. Otherwise, he would't be the villain we need him to be.
Putin is little more than a banana republic dictator. We exaggerate his importance, perhaps because he is adept at public relations and subterfuge. Russia has an oil economy dominated by a bunch of gangsters. Russia's current population is less than half that of the U.S. It's GNP is roughly the same as Brazil, about 1.5 trillion per year. The U.S. GNP is 19 trillion. Putin should be licking our leader's boots instead of the other way around. And he would be if our fellow citizens had not voted for a corruption administration.
That is quite a parade of horribles Putin is juggling in Russia, I wonder how he finds the time to run America?
1
“A properly run dictatorship looks very different from this,” Mr. Galeotti said.
It looks like Singapore!
1
Mock the "Russiagaters". Mock them ruthlessly, and never, ever let them forget the horrible thing that they did. Never stop making fun of them and reminding them how stupid and crazy they acted during this humiliating period of American history. And never stop using it as a weapon against them. They were wrong, so they should not be leading the way on what passes for America’s political left today. Skepticism was the only appropriate response to Russiagate in a post-Iraq invasion world, and those on the left who made that appropriate response should be treated with infinitely more respect and deference than those who did not.
2
Really? Putin seems pretty darn powerful.
A couple of executions for corruption plus several long sentences to Siberia should get everyone back in line. It is the nice thing about being a dictator.
1
The author is wrong - Putin is not a hostage of his "power vertical", as the article seems to suggest. He created it and he sets the tone in it, while the lower ranking bureaucrats simply follow the signals from the top and act accordingly, even if sometimes they are overzealous trying to impress their superiors in Moscow. The corruption is not a glitch in that system, on the contrary, it is an integral part of it. Corruption is the glue that holds that system together since it ensures loyalty - when everyone is corrupt, anyone can be picked up and put in jail in no time, if he happens to step out of line. We have seen this happen here in Russia many times. As for Putin saying one thing while his goons do completely the opposite - only an American can believe that Putin's words uttered in public are genuine. The real orders are given in places far away from the public eye and it is those orders that do in fact set direction for Russian policies both at home and abroad.
7
@Ghostly Presence
Thanks for the accurate description of what actually goes on.
1
You need Capitalism to feed and supply a population. But there many variations of Adam Smith's child. Predatory Capitalism in the USA, Police State Capitalism in China, Klepto-Capitalism of Russia, Cooperative Capitalism of Europe, Chaotic Capitalism of Africa, Tribal Capitalism of the Middle East, Shinto Capitalism in Japan and a Catholic flavored Capitalism of Latin America that favors waiting for the next life and salvation by confession at the last moment.
This has fostered an individualism that is antithetical to the collective problems of global warming, nuclear Armageddon, disease control, pollution control etc. Adam Smith sensed the limitations of unfettered Capitalism and died before elaborating this danger. The "me first" of Brexit and Trump is a zero sum game used by Putin to accentuate the Capitalism worst facet while covering up the chronic long failed state of Russia.
Vote again regarding Brexit - the last 2 years have educated the voters of Britain. Hold the fort against Trump and get the voters out in 2020 - Trump is giving us an education. Putin's failed State is part of that education.
5
Wishful thinking this. Sure Putin could care less about the affairs of state regarding everyday ordinary Russian citizens. What Putin does care about is enriching himself at all costs. The Trump election was more about money laundering Putin's ill-gotten gains than anything else. Trump and Putin are two kleptocrats who value money, make occasional pronouncements or issue orders that are typically overturned, and care less about their constituents. In Putin's case, he murders his enemies. Trump can't go that far despite his pronouncements about support of the police and the military. Thankfully America's law enforcement and military do honor public service and the American rule of law and would no doubt ignore a request for murder regardless of political beliefs.
2
I have a friend who is a Jehovah's Witness. He and and his wife and two children are among the most wonderful families I met.
Whether or not Putin is all-powerful is irrelevant. He's powerful enough to invade Crimea, prolong the war in Syria, and meddle in U.S. elections. The fact that Trump seems enamored of him gives him further malevolent influence.
3
How powerful is he, well Mr. Higgins if you were living in Russia you would find yourself in a Siberian prison for asking that question.
The correct question is how powerful is Russia, because he controls it.
1
Maybe the Russian situation is not far away from the American one, where the autonomous military and judicial civil service has pursued the task to preserve the America's interests notwithstanding the Trump's occasional and aberrant political orientations.
Over the last 20 years a deluge of news and critical papers have made anti-Putin propaganda underlining his dictatorial absolute powers on the Russian state and society.
Now, the anti-Putin propaganda changes and shows that he looks far weaker than he was presumed but the Russian civil service and the Russian society led by the Orthodox Church are the evils.
When I was young, I had to read Western propaganda, which convinced me that all the Christian churches had been killed off by the cruel Communist Party. Luckily it was a fake news.
Now, though there is no more Communism in Russia, our democratic West still needs to build up Russian monsters.
@renarapa
This one man's opinion. One man can be completely wrong.
He is as powerful as Trump and Trump's Republican collaborators allow him to be.
Putin owns the president of the United States. I think he considers himself very successful.
Population and land area strictly rules over the human society's manageability.
Given the fact that Russia's land size and Population, a rational person cannot expect Pinochet's Chile in Russia.
While the West is trying to discern govt Putin smoke and mirrors, they really should be looking at his cyberwar and hot war with mercenary armies that Putin funds in Africa (rich in minerals mining!) and his cyber war in the West. Putin funds terrorism along with Saudi Arabia (high five guys!) to chase immigrants into Western nations and cause huge disruption. Putin is controlling the world, successfully. Has nobody noticed?
No way! Not everything that Putin says publicly is true?
1
It may be a small ironic comfort in this age of dictators like Putin or dictator wannabes like Trump that inefficiency and incompetence derail their grand plans. While Russia can cause stress and chaos in the West;this failing state with falling life expectancy, rampant corruption and an economy that only exports oil and vodka can be the superpower of old. Of course the one law that always triumphs is: Murphy's law.
Regardless of how powerful Putin is, he's the devil (or dictator) we know as opposed to the devil or dictator we don't. And he's at least powerful enough to control Trump as well as our elections. The bigger questions are who controls Putin and who will be the next Putin.
They have a GDP the size of Texas and life expectancies in the 60’s. Putin & Russia are given far too much credit.
2
@Once From Rome
Russia may not be wealthy, but the same can't be said about Vladimir Putin and his friends.
1
In July 2016 Edward Lucas, a senior Editor for The Economist, remarked that it was important not to overestimate Putin's strength or to assume that the Russian security services were omnipotent.
Despite unlimited amounts of money and political authority, the Kremlin has failed with basic tasks of running a tax system to building a road from one end of the country to the other, i.e. you still can't drive a truck on a proper road from Moscow to Vladivostok:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=juYU1RpOny8
The more we look at our enemies, the more they look like us.
@Ronald Sprague
I would dispute that characterization. We don't have an autocrat ruling by fiat. We have a non-corrupt judicial system and we have a legislature that can exercise its independence and authority if it so chooses. Our entire society is not infested with corruption from judges to policemen to bribes to be allowed to keep your business open.
Suffice it to say, there are many more contrasts to Russia.
The article neglects to mention the powerful role of the Russian mafia, who Putin abets and underwrites. That's where a lot of state money and wealth comes from.
1
"Is Mr. Putin really the omnipotent leader whom his critics attack and his own propagandists promote?"
No, Vladimir Putin is a fraud. He did have plans to retire at the end of his term in 2008 and live the life of the richest man in the world worth 40 billion dollars, and all acquired through illegal proxies, (sounds familiar to me djt).
Given some thought, he was very concerned as to how a new president might view this acquisition of wealth leading to an investigation. I think the tipping point that leads to his decision to run again was the chain of revolutions in the Arab world, namely the falling of the former strong man of Libya Muammar Gaddafi 2011. Keep in mind, Vladimir lives with the memory of the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991
His "people" who reside primarily in the countryside live in poverty, are starving, and are witness to the opulence of wealth of those who live in the cities. As a private citizen, Vladimir could find himself in a coffin or jail.
Vladimir is and was always a fraud (djt, 'like attracts like'). He now finds himself "master and prisoner" of the kleptocracy he inherited from Boris Yeltsin.
2
I very much enjoyed this article as Mr Higgins asked us to look, not just emote.
Russia has been an easy “other” for us for 100 years, since the birth of the Soviet Union. But in fact, the Tsars, the Stalins and the Putins all resemble each other so much it appears that autocracy is the bedrock of the Russian national enterprise.
Mr Higgins’s assessment doesn’t lessen the notion that autocracy is a hard system. But he reminded me again that the headlines and the stories are often at great odds.
Interesting points made in this article. Most conspiracy theories can be put to rest just by counting on institutional ineptitude.
If the Democrats are all powerful and control the "main stream media" and are secretly guiding us to the socialist utopia through the "deep state", why can't they win a simple presidential election?
If Russia is so all powerful and can manipulate our elections, why aren't they the world's fastest growing economy?
How can Sharia law take over the US, when most of the Muslims living in the US are here to avoid the very same thing? Most Islamic nations have a hard time governing themselves, much less taking over the western world.
20
@Terry I think its difficult these days to poll people regarding their beliefs.
One article I found, and it may be bogus or true, put out this statistic:
Nearly one-fifth of Muslim respondents said that the use of violence in the United States is justified in order to make shariah the law of the land in this country.
https://www.centerforsecuritypolicy.org/2015/06/23/nationwide-poll-of-us-muslims-shows-thousands-support-shariah-jihad/
How powerful is Putin? He has been in charge of Russia for nearly 20 years and his opponents are in jail or dead. He is also basically running the U.S. through his patsy Trump and the Republican Party. I’d say he is pretty powerful and doing very well for himself.
32
Those of us who didn't vote for Trump knew he was less than the sum of his parts.
I found this article surprising, as to how in some ways, Putin is similar to Trump; except maybe he's smarter. But still, apparently not smart enough to figure out how to make his own government work in unison.
I cannot speak to Vladimir Putin and today's Russia, but having lived through the last throes of the Soviet era in Germany I have no doubt that whatever is going on there, we'll never really know about because that's how they (and the K.G.B., now F.S.B.) operate.
In fact it appears to still be a system that thrives on absolute control, secrecy and the ability to give the impression that all is well -- even when it's not.
And it's nothing less than strange that under the current administration, almost the same thing can now be said about us.
2
Of course an authoritarian can't control everything. There would never be a political coup otherwise. On the spectrum from authoritarian to non-authoritarian though, Putin certainly ranks much closer to the former than the latter. Remarkably so when you consider how wide Russian interest and influence extends. Running a big country is never easy. Running a geopolitical region is incredibly hard. Russia is western Asia's geopolitical powerhouse.
Cut the guy some slack. Putin is probably paying a lot more attention to events in Syria and Ukraine then some Jehovah witness locked in prison. Don't believe everything you hear on TV. I'd guess government corruption is a form of payoff too. You don't rise from the ashes of Soviet dissolution without greasing palms. Is Putin a totalitarian like Stalin? No. Putin also wasn't born in the 19th century though either. He's working the 21st century global system as best he can. The resources available to him are what they are.
1
The ‘collusion’ between Putin and Trump is not about government but is about WEALTH. Neither of them really care about governing for the benefit of all their citizens.
1
"Or does he sit atop a state that is, in fact, shockingly ramshackle..."
This, in my opinion, is a correct description. So much so that one way of understanding Mr. Trump's seemingly sycophantic posture toward Mr. Putin is to consider what might come after Mr. Putin. I would suggest that we do not know, and because we neither know nor can predict, we opt for "stability" (especially command and control over nuclear weapons) over potential chaos.
This, in contrast to the old days, when we could anticipate succession in part by looking a the Politburo leadership lineup on May Day or at Lenin's tomb.
2
Hmmm
Sounds surprisingly similar to what might be a description of the United States...along with its citizens outsized belief in the power and effectiveness of most of its chief executives.
If it weren’t...we wouldn’t be hearing versions of the “I’ll drain the swamp” promise from every presidential candidate from both parties every 4 years.
3
It’s interesting how similar this Russian project sounds like Trump’s Atlantic City casino. “... is taking years longer than planned, slowed by corruption, strikes by unpaid workers...” “... more than $150 million has been stolen from the project..", ".... marred by 17,000 legal violations by more than 1,000 people.”
But never to be a man satisfied with his latest debacle, Trump is about to appoint a former campaign associate to the FED so he can disrupt one of the remaining systems that seems to be functional and operating w/o scandal.
The question remains, can America survive 22 more months of Trump?
5
I don't know. It sounds to me more like Big Dig in Boston, the project. that originally was scheduled to be finished in 1998 with 6 billions of cost (adjusted for inflation), was finished in 2007 and cost more than 14.6 billions
I've heard many people say "Communism doesn't work. Look how badly it did in Russia." This article puts the lie to that statement. Royalism was terrible in Russia, communism was terrible in Russia, and it looks like capitalism isn't doing that well either. Maybe it's Russia and not the 'isms.
I'm not trying to imply that communism is a good system. Most likely it isn't. I just don't like false equivalences. Since communism has only been tried as a desperate attempt to save failed countries, we don't have an adequate comparison. There is no reason to try it in a country that is running properly.
Most countries that fail, whether they are nominally communist, socialist or capitalist, are run into the ground by self-serving oligarchs.
10
@mlbex
Come for the Communism, state for the one party dictatorship.
China was Communist, now still a one party state that leverages capitalism to succeed.
Many other countries, but with your criteria being only desperate countries, what successful country would be so foolish to leave the system they have?
@LibertyLover: That's what I said.
I should have added a final sentence to my post "Changing the label doesn't fix anything if the leaders and the culture remain the same."
Mr. Putin's management of Russia is done behind a veil of smoke and screen.
He directs and his associates act on his direction while he professes being innocent of the action that has been done on his behalf.
The self-effacing that follows is an attempt to disarm his critics and let them know he does not condone what he initiated behind that veil of smoke and screen.
4
One need only read Russian fiction and the like to view reality over the State sponsored hype. One also needs to dig deep into public Intelligence reporting outside the US, to also glean the actual conditions on the ground in Russia.
If we in the US think places like India, China, Afghanistan, Mexico, Venezuela etc, are rife with systemic corruption, oh boy! You ain't seen nothing like it is in Russia. Always been, likely always will be, short of a complete systemic evisceration. From desk clerk to Putin, corrupt.
Putin only sits on top because of the Oligarchs supporting him. He sits atop one of the largest, embedded Organized Crime Syndicates the world has ever seen. It simply does not get enough press in the US. Our news media is too focused on Putin as the puppet-master, the strong man with the crushing grip. Mostly because right now it feeds into the whole Trump Soap Opera series.
The reality is only scratched at here; Putin is not in control of the oligarchs, especially not those in the SVR/FSB and the GRU. Which all employ more Russians then in the Soviet era. The SVR now has equal to, if not more agents in the US as it did in the past.
Running Russian intelligence are not men bent on a Phoenix like rise of the Soviet Union (under Putin) but rather they are solely interested in wreaking havoc in the West, while their oligarchs in charge fill their coffers.
Putin could easily be banished by these men, deposed to live off his considerable wealth on a yacht.
2
I am not so sure. After all, in Russia the bus full of teenagers doesn't disappear in the thin air in the middle of the day without the trace, like in Mexico. And with all its corruption, Russia has quite high human development index. Way too higher than such countries as India. Maybe, rumors about Russian corruption are exaggerated as much as about power of Putin.
1
There is certainly a buzz in this country about the checks and balances system, with Trump, the courts and Congress. I would like to see an article on the Russian system, in theory and in practice. We know Putin is ex-KGB, and he wipes out adversaries when the occasion calls for it. But does he answer to anyone? Do the courts restrain him at all? What about their congressional body?
2
@Steve
The judicial system is corrupt to the point that there is no rule of law.
The Duma is a rubber stamp legislature for the most part.
There's no check on Putin, he's an autocrat after all.
@Steve In case you didn't read the news lately, our checks and balances aren't working.
1
Even Stalin was not as all-powerful as he appeared from the outside. Some of his murderousness was an effort to bring the country firmly under his control, which failed. The economy did not produce on command (and needed criminal networks to function at all), belief in communism collapsed, not belief in religion, and the bureaucracy could not be tamed. That does not mean that Putin cannot do a lot of damage inside and outside of Russia, but you don't need to be a total dictator to kill people and mess up other countries' elections.
No, the "gulf between what Mr. Putin says and what happens in Russia" has more to do with the difference between rhetoric and action.
5
This article is an example of just how little we know about Russia. I also recommend "Russia With our Putin, Money, Power and the Myths of the New Cold War" by Tony Wood.
He argues that the Russian democracy project was abandoned by the West and instead we opted to have Yeltsin crash the old Soviet economy and implement a radical transition to capitalism.
This plunged the country into a decade of extreme poverty. As our news only focused on the bright lights of the Kremlin, it ignored the crumbling infrastructure and the theft of of the economy by the new oligarch class.
Putin was elected as a technocrat to restore some order to this chaos. In doing so he has assumed authoritarian powers. But during that chaotic period much of Russia fell back on its old Soviet bureaucratic ways where some combination of connections and corruption were the coin of the realm.
Under the old system power centers and connections were the only way to be "protected." Now that system has become the way of doing all business.
The democracy project is still alive and struggling in Russia. While it is pushing against Putin, its biggest opponents are those entrenched power centers that do not want to give way to new democratic institutions.
Unfortunately our Russian policy is almost totally Putin driven. We would do better to support, not dictate to the still fledgling democracy that is alive and well in Russia. We failed to make that choice in 92. We shouldn't miss the opportunity again.
19
@Drspock
Yeltsin appealed to US advisers because the economy was already a basket case. Incompetence and rampant mafia organized crime added to the mix.
Russia always tries to lay their own failures on someone else. They were an independent country with a democratic government. Transitioning from a state run command economy to something else was always going to be a mess whoever was in charge.
It was Russia's problem. They couldn't handle the chaos, whether though incompetence, ignorance or corrupt officials.
They could have asked for other advisers or simply declined the advice of the asked for consultants.
This is comparable to how Putin blames the West for Russia's diminished role in world affairs. They just can't accept that they blew it. Russia was welcomed into the community of developed nations and recoiled in petulant and adolescent annoyance that it was not treated as the superpower that was the CCCP. They seem to never learn. Rather than grow their own country into a mature developed country they devolve into hostility and subversion toward nations doing better than they are. Ridiculous!
3
“This is not a personally run empire but a huge and difficult-to-manage bureaucratic machine with its own internal rules and principles,”
It seems the nature of any government is as the scale of government bureaucracies grows, and longevity of workers increases, so too does their inclination gravitates to building feudal empires.
A universal dynamic: no matter how much institutions begin for the 'good', they will always ultimately trend to self-preservation.
3
@PD Curasi
Which you seem to imply is a wholly bad thing. Its not. Self-preservation is a needed aspect in a complex system/nation with diverse and constantly shifting needs. The issues arise when preservation conflicts with dynamism. Self-preservation demands plasticity, as it does with an individual, and smaller groups.
You don't eat like a teen when you are 30+, unless you wish to be sick and fat, parents don't parent to teens like they did to infants...so you adjust and make dynamic changes. And the system prevails...
The same holds for Gov't Systems, and in this case bureaucracies. They need to self-preserve, but they also need to adapt and alter their processes as times change, and needs demand different results.
Too many in the US, including our dotard president, are hellbent in disparaging our institutions, by using corrupt foreign ones as examples. By pointing to the calcified spots, instead of where they succeeded and continue to...
Dynamic leadership is whats needed now, not the idiots we have now, who are rose-colored-glass fetishists. Looking to roll back advances for the quick profits of a few. Or because their supporters are ignorant and prone to drinking Kool-aid.
@Boregard
It's a bad thing when self-preservation is turned against citizens. You get the gulag, NSA and China spying citizens, or something similar. So, in the long run, self-preservation /is/ a bad thing.
Not powerful enough I suspect to dodge the backlash from the United States intelligence agencies following his attack on our elections.
U.S. professional cold warriors and cyber experts are biding their time and will move against Putin and his associates as soon as a Democratic president is in office.
Why a Democrat?
Because the republicans are far too conflicted, far too compromised to effectively deal with dangerous foreign adversaries.
Their cowardly partisan attempts to block a meaningful investigation into election meddling into the 2016 election is proof for anyone who has the courage to look at it honestly.
Trump loves a strongman, the republicans love Trump.
Who should we trust to protect our country and hold Putin accountable?
17
Hardly an advert for traveling to Russia. Basically you're saying it's a kafkaesque situation -- you might be able to go about your business or you might be arrested or have some other run-in with the law at any moment for any reason.
What's worse, a properly run dictatorship or a ramshackle dictatorship -- pick your poison.
Russia's succession problem, as Timothy Snyder has pointed out -- is the country's biggest weakness. Not being able to build bridges or other other infrastructure seems an apt metaphor for that "no future" trap the country's in.
So in the meantime we'll pursue religious persecution to blame our troubles on someone else. How depressing.
5
The Russin Orthodox Church is the official Christian Church and a national symbol for the people of Russia. Outside religious sects are considered suspicious and are dealt with a firm fist. The strongest weapon Putin has is the F. S. B. not its
weapons.
2
Let's hope his nuclear arsenal remains under his control and not fall into the hands of unknown bureaucrats, or loose-cannon-generals. His country might (or not) be crumbling, but the nukes aren't just going to rust away by themselves.
3
There was an extremely funny and telling SNL sketch around the time of Reagan that depicts the opposite of what this article describes. In it, Reagan is shown as the amiable, aw-shucks, slightly doddering buffoon, who, once the cameras are off, transitions into a ruthless, canny, polymath pulling every lever of power he can get his hands on. It’s an equally compelling fantasy but one that is more based on reality, at least, in this country.
5
Putin may be more like Trump than Stalin, but he can still annex Crimea, invade the Ukraine, expand his footprint in the Middle East, save Assad and develop a doomsday nuclear torpedo that would devastate America’s coastal cities and much if our population. Let’s not delude ourselves that he doesn’t have a grip on Russia because he can’t build a road to St. Petersburg. He has his hand on what matters to the US. Forget the rest.
7
Putin lies, that is for sure. He puts on a public face, which he seems to do more for the west than his fellow Russians. As for his power. Trained in the the KGB, his modus operandi is secrecy. He is at the top of the government after all. I suspect he wields a vast amount of influence over many parts of the government and country that we are unaware of because of his secrecy.
3
Ultimately authoritarians value loyalty over all other values and are forced to tolerate incompetence and other dysfunctions because loyalty is so central to their retention of power.
I'd also wager that some of Putin's apparent lack of power may be mistakenly confused with just not caring. This or that policy or project may be promoted as important, but if it fails it doesn't matter as long as its failure doesn't threaten his position.
What's scarier than Putin is what comes after Putin when he ultimately loses power. Russia will have suffered through decades of corruption, incompetence and neglect and be lacking any cohesive ability to hold itself together.
3
The clerical collaboration of the Russian Orthodox Church with the state has been documented since Stalin.
It's no accident that a pacifistic denomination like the Jehovah's Witnesses, who've been persecuted even here in the USA as well, would be a target. During WWll people in a nearby town here in Oregon found that members of that group had received gas rationing cards beyond limits set for others. When a regional assembly convened, some townspeople raided the gathering, overturned cars & slashed tires.
The onus on the Witnesses has lessened considerably in recent times.
The Jehovah's Witness example Higgin's quotes is risible. All Dictators have preached one thing and practiced another. It's standard operating practice.
12
Love him, hate him or fear him, there are inescapable facts about Putin whoever he may or may not be.
When the Soviet Union collapsed, Russia was left as a failed state open to exploitation of what was left of its economy by “oligarchs” who became billionaires overnight, many of them taking their money to the West. Life expectancy is Russia was in a seemingly unstoppable decline and the military was approaching third-world status.
The seldom-sober president of that time, Boris Yeltsin, was a feted clown of the western world who begged Clinton for financial support as the US directed elections that kept returning Yeltsin to power.
After some 18 years of Putin, Russia has regained world military power status, engages in geostrategic issues and has an economy that has stability and even respectable growth even after the punishing American-led sanctions. The economy is even showing significant diversification. Needless to say, none of this pleases the world’s hegemon.
It happens rarely but a leader rises in a country at an existential moment. Ataturk was such a figure in 1920s Turkey. Putin has served the same purpose for Russia.
14
@Alfred di Genis
How russian economy can be stable if even during all last 18 years the road between two main russian cities haven't been built? Do u mean stable of stagnation? Last 5 years the only one thing is growing - poverty. Russian economy is collapsing
@Alfred di Genis
Largely nonsense. The Russian economy for example shows little sign of serious diversification. Most of the Soviet legacy industries are fairly sclerotic. It remains essentially an energy and commodities producer. Putin is a thuggish ex KGB operative surrounded by a court of mainly ex Nomenklatura kleptocrats (or their offspring) running a faux democracy all administered by a bloated, low paid, corrupt and fairly incompetent bureaucracy. They still have I think 11 nuclear reactors of the Chernobyl type operational in the country. It's essentially a Saudi Arabia of the Northern hemisphere.
1
@Alfred di Genis
Like Yeltsin, General Grant was a drunk and corrupt.
But, he saved the Republic, and we celebrate him, warts and all, with an immense monument at the foot of the west steps of the US Capitol.
Yeltsin, in August 1991, was magnificent. As no one else had, ever, he stood against the Stalinist state, and led victorious Russia out of its long night.
A free Russia will remember that single moment as the most important one of its 20th century history. It will ignore the rest, and cherish him.
The day will come when his tank will be recast in bronze, and Yeltsin will stand on it, reading from the piece of paper that brought down the Soviet Union.
Mr. Putin may not be all-powerful in the administrative or bureaucratic sense.
However, I believe he is all-powerful in the economic hierarchy of the organized crime enterprise which the Russian government has effectively become. No one makes any serious money in Russia without Putin's approval, and you can be certain Putin always gets his cut.
31
In short, to the cynical eye, here is America's future, complete with smirky, Bush type smirking mob boss atop a pyramid scheme of business billionaires and a lot of very poor people unable to get a vote in.
(But I bet that if Putin investigated someone and their family for bank robbery, or conspiracy, at least the robbers would have been interviewed under oath).
Hard to be hopeful with nearly half the country thinking Trump is a great administrator, and with a bankrupt economy led by a crew that wants even larger deficits.
Hugh
40
“A properly run dictatorship looks very different from this,” Mr. Galeotti said."
Power and running something properly are two very different things.
Mr. Putin seems to be very much in charge, relative to what in charge can mean now in Russia. If he were not, he would not be
20
Compared to Trump Putin seems to be a more stable leader and with all the firepower at his disposal we need to remind him of the limits to his territorial adventures. Trump may cower before Putin as he is a blowhard weakling but our military/intel complex is ready to overrule TRump as they did on Syria. TRump firing Mattis and trashing McCain has caused concern among military and intel professionals and there will be push back vs Trump who will back down in a show down.Congress has shown some backbone vs Trump trying to cater to Putin and he is being watched and suspected of being a tool of Putin curtailing his actions. Putin will not get his penthouse in Trump Tower Moscow as Trump cannot show any favor to Putin without causing a congressional investigation and a media blitz. If Trump loses in 2020 the next prez may take a hardline on Putin and Russia cannot afford another arms race with the USA which is how Soviet Empire fell . Better to build up Russia and the USA build up infrastructure 500 million people deserve to live better in peace.
14
Administrative competence is not a hallmark of dictators, or wannabe dictators. One must repect the damage he can do to you, not the things he accomplishes for the greater good.
20
At Jake: I have the feeling that if Putin were four or 5 inches taller and didn’t look like a peasant from a Bruegel painting, he, Russia and the world would all be much happier. It’s hard to go through life being the world’s toughest guy.
"How Powerful Is Vladimir Putin Really?"
There are endless illegitimate questions. Asked by many.Responded to with many correct, almost right, as well as consensualized wrong answers.1+1=? We are taught 2; and will receive a 100% by...Ask a Ph.D. student "How Powerful Is Vladimir Putin Really?" as s/he searches for a dissertation topic and advisor, and a likely answer can be... Ask a drug user in Russia, where methadone is illegal, "How Powerful Is Vladimir Putin Really?" and s/he may respond with...Ask Trump, himself, or one of his trumpistas "How Powerful Is Vladimir Putin Really?" and a voice will mantra...Ask a survivor young then, about the Siege of Stalingrad "How Powerful Is Vladimir Putin Really?" and s/he may, or may not, understand why s/he is being queried NOW. Questions, whose meanings, like all words, are context-bound. Legitimate questions, a semantic genus, sensitive to the reality that no word ever adequately represents what it was created to answer, describe, transmit, etc. lights the path to what is currently not known. Not answerable. YET! SO, instead of, or perhaps in addition to, asking "How Powerful Is Vladimir Putin Really?" consider: What are the critically necessary, interacting, internal and external conditions which enable ranges of VIOLATING to continue to occur in contemporary Russia? Violating selected, targeted people. Violating processes. Ideas. Norms. Ethics. What does, can, personal accountability mean in daily life in Russia? For whom?
5
It was Charles de Gaulle who quipped 'what's the Soviet Union ? Upper Volta (present-day Burkina Faso) with nuclear arms.' Outside of Moscow and St Petersburg, it appears that little has changed in decades...
11
From this article:
"Is Mr. Putin really the omnipotent leader whom his critics attack"
From Wikipedia:
"A straw man is a form of argument and an informal fallacy based on giving the impression of refuting an opponent's argument, while actually refuting an argument that was not presented by that opponent"
8
He's as powerful as the President of the United States lets him be. Incontrovertibly, Trump has to let him be very powerful. Incontrovertibly, he makes Trump let him be very powerful.
12
"Or does he sit atop a state that is, in fact, shockingly ramshackle, a system driven more by the capricious and often venal calculations of competing bureaucracies and interest groups than by Kremlin diktats?"
I guess it's time to bring those old Sovietologists out of retirement. Plus ça change and all that.
5
It seems to me that leadership today, successful modern leadership, is less about the alpha male/female "my way or the highway" type of individual, and more about the person who's able to weave powerful, semi-autonomous, entities together in the interests of the State. To do this they need to have a heightened sense of empathy, as well as an equally heightened ability to get others to work together towards some common goal.
Ours is not the world of a Genghis Khan, a Stalin or even a Roosevelt. We are well beyond the era where leadership is singular. Ours is a networked world.
Unfortunately the current crop of leaders seen all across the world, from Trump to Putin to Kim to Xi, etc., none of them evince the capabilities of a leader best able to lead such a world. And so things struggle and flail about while we wait on the arrival of a new crop of leaders adept at managing the realities of our world today.
John~
American Net'Zen
7
An excellent analysis. I will add just one additional cultural factor to consider. It seems to me not just coincidental that in Europe, Russia, Ukraine, Greece, Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia, Georgia are all among the most corrupt countries. I have to believe their national Orthodox churches play a role in this phenomenon. And it's certainly no secret that the Orthodox Churches in most of these countries are virulently nationalistic and have deep ties to organized crime.
24
@Mark Nuckols Well at least in the Eastern Orthodox churches priest are allowed to marry and they do not have the child abuse problems that the Roman Catholic Empire has. The Roman Catholic Papacy is not only corrupt, it overlooks crimes against humanity which is what child abuse is. A lot worse that nationalism and organized crime in my book!
1
There's another point of view about the divide between Putin's words & the actions of his government. Putin, like our leader in the USA. has no relationship whatever with the truth. He says anything that makes him look good, but he doesn't really mean it. Also I think he's happy with the disfunction of Russia, because he feels safe from the rule of law & potential rivals that might otherwise arise in a well run state.
9
What an odd column. How powerful is he? Really? Well we'll start with the fact that he's been the President of Russia for 18 years and it's not like there's anybody on the horizon to overtake him. 2) The President of the US, who used to be the leader of the free world by virtue of holding that position, is unbelievably weak in the presence of Putin and he takes the word of Putin over own intelligence services. 3) 17 US intelligence agencies all believe that Russia hacked our election and the guy they wanted to win, won. 4) The Trump administration walked back sanctions on Russia and their aggression in Crimea has been allowed to stand unchecked. So yes, I would say Putin's pretty powerful. Of course two things can be true. It is ineffective because dictatorships are always built on the cult of personality and helping maintain the leader's personal power and wealth at all times.
91
@Kip Brezhnev was in power in USSR for almost 20 years having obvious dementia in his last years while still in power. He suited the Russia's power circles probably who ran the country on his behalf. Putin is in good mental health and much more in control still a lot of things can go in the country without his knowledge or control. This article has a lot of valid points.
3
@Kip The other question is how weak the US has become as Russia´s hacking combined with the almost unbelievable illiteracy of 40% of the electorate to the tenets of the US Constitution combined with one TV network Fox with no state sanctioned ability to block other media -- managed to put in place a US president based and to quote you Kip "built on the cult of personality and helping maintain the leader's personal power and wealth at all times."
7
Russia has been a crumbling empire for decades, and remains in most areas a far less important long-term strategic rival than China. It's good to be reminded of this.
But the reality remains that multiple state actors intervened to alter the 2016 US election. So while Putin may not have the kind of control that "real" dictators prefer, letting him off the hook in any way for this is akin to giving Trump a pass because he has been unsuccessful in his goals of suppressing the press, circumventing congress (the border "emergency"), overriding his own professional agencies (FBI, CIA, Treasury Dept, etc).
What matters in both cases is a wannabe dictator is continuing to do substantial damage to the world.
37
@Michael
Indeed. What can Russia provide the modern world outside of petroleum products and ores ? Can anyone name an internationally recognised and respected brand name or contemporary figure in the Russian world of arts ? A sparsely populated wasteland, inevitably prey to interference from more ambitious neighbours….
13
@AE
I can. RD-180. That is the Russian rocket engine US relies on for launching satellites into space and keeps buying from Russia even now. That "sparsely populated wasteland" can turn the whole of US into a totally unpopulated wasteland in about 30 minutes. And that is a conservative estimate.
10
Space program.
What a fine article.
Higgins captures the reality that Russia remains the confused and discordant society that emerged from the 1991 Revolution, with a thin shell of state enforced stability surrounding it. He portrays well the dysfunctional interactions of the various components of the bureaucracy and upper class.
I should add, though, one more component, the mass of the population. The process of liberation of the 80s and 90s did not die with Putin's coming to power.
A generation and a half has matured since the Soviet overthrow, and one can assume that given the chance, this generation will shake the power of the state as did those of thirty and more years ago.
Higgins message, that the state is much weaker than generally understood, needs to be supplemented with the additional truth that the Russian nation is much stronger than conventionally believed.
Eventually, an overthrow of the regime will occur, and it will appear to come out of nowhere, as is the pattern in Russia. When it happens, Russia and we will have the chance to undo the tragic mistakes that led to the present confrontation.
This time around Russia has to disenfranchise, ban, the pivotal ten thousand persons of the dictatorship, as it did not in 1991-2.
And the West has to accept the hand of friendship that a democratic Russian revolution will once again extend to the West. Last time around, B. Clinton, Brzezinski, and Kissinger led us instead to shove NATO up against the Russian border.
12
@alyosha
Russia was already shoved up against countries that had been subjugated by the same mentality that still exists in Russia today, that somehow they are entitled to bully and dominate and invade other countries. Russia has the second strongest armed forces "shoved up against" these nations and bizarrely apparently rational people refuse to extend the principle of self defense to these countries, much smaller and less powerful individually than Russia. Russia hates NATO because it's mutual defense pact equalizes the power dynamic such that Russia knows better than to challenge it.
5
@LibertyLove
Get off it. The Stalinist regime that occupied East Europe was vastly more deadly to Russians, along with Ukrainians, than to anybody else.
And Russians not only had nothing to do with Stalin's assault on Ukraine, the Holodomor, the starvation of millions of Ukrainians, but tried to bring food to them. See Robert Conquest, "Harvest of Sorrow".
We, nobody else, overthrew that murderous regime. The architect of America's strategy in the Cold War, George F. Kennan, described our achievement, which you don't even mention, as the greatest non-violent democratic revolution in the history of the world.
Western propaganda, and yours, notwithstanding, we Russians are not natural Stalinists. Just the opposite.
From 1993 on, the West threatened democratic Russia. Just like anybody else, eg JFK---Missile Crisis, 1962---we get upset about armies moving toward our borders. Thus, the West, including its clients in East Europe (well, evaporating clients) has itself to blame for Russian hostility.
We probably have some responsibility for letting Putin and his aggressive nationalism come to power. We were, after all, exhausted by the late 90s.
The West, however, is at least as culpable as we are.
And we'll get rid of him, in time. The West can't.
3
@alyosha Fair enough. Except that every time Russia changes, it seems to remain the same. It always seems to be a dictatorship.
1
A person’s power, perceived or real, is often very personal when it is directly proportional to how much he or she can hurt you. Putin has already hurt me personally by putting the US in a tail spin by hacking into the e-mails and social networks. He has hurt my country grievously by engineering a political victory for an individual who is totally unfit to run the US. And Putin’s power is apparently more devastating when he controls that individual and makes him jump to his command even now. Putin has also put the England in the Brexit quagmire if the assertion that Arron Banks, the British businessman who funded the most extreme end of the pro-Brexit "Leave" campaign with possible help from Russia is true. Arron’s young wife, with questionable antecedents, is a Russian. If Putin was able to bring about Brexit, then he is more powerful than we think. Not to mention Putin’s effort to make Europe and Germany buy its natural gas and put a chokehold on the German economy. Putin may or may not be powerful in Russia itself, but he has wielded power in a vicious way by hurting major economies without losing much in return. From American perspective Putin domestic power is of little consequence for rest of the world because he has hit US where it hurts, by putting Putin’s puppet in power.
76
@PK2NYT
Asymmetric power. The hybrid war, active measures. Old but effective techniques born in the days of the CCCP. Read about how the USSR took over the Baltics in 1940. They used some techniques that will sound familiar, even today.
2
Are we not supposed to worry that Putin is interfering in our government because Putin isn't running a tight ship in Russia? I hope we find out the truth about Putin's interference in our country.
Something doesn't smell right from Ivanka sitting in Putin's chair to Putin saying "Donald listens to me". Hopefully Mueller's effort will get to the truth but in any case Trump's strange behavior towards Putin.
So far Putin's waging cyber war on our country yet Trump does nothing to look into over the advice of our countries highest intelligence leaders.
119
@Javaforce. The interior workings of the nefarious Trump election team as revealed by the Mueller Report will be far too subtle for Trump supporters to grasp. Right now Trump himself probably thinks this is a nothing burger but when the SDNY gets to its revelation, hopefully as Trump is no longer in office, I suspect what we will see is ordinary criminal corruption of the type found in lots of real estate dealings.
The case for “working with the Russians” has been out in the open — mostly not hidden — from the moment Trump publically asked Russia to “find” Clinton’s emails and when he lied about not knowing anything about the Trump Jr. meeting with Russian nationals in Trump Tower. Impeachment would be pointless and expensive as the Republican Senate can’t even vote for their own Constitutional power of the purse and against Trump’s workaround for “The Wall.” Let’s not make this person a victim martyr in his own eyes and those of his followers.
His supporters need to start asking themselves what’s he done for us lately besides allowing us to tell everyone that we are unhappy at our job losses and at an influx of immigrants. I’ll tell you what my Dad would say, “That and $2 won’t get you a subway ride.” Time to look for a Party and an individual with better and more practical ideas.
7
Russian authoritarianism is atop a caldron of factions too deeply and long established to manage except with secret police, purges, graft, and tolerance for inefficiencies that can never be corrected. It was that way under the czars, the communists, Yeltsin, and now Putin.
30
Putin has been in power for 18 years, with no end in sight, and has his rivals killed, jailed, or otherwise sidelined. Seems like he is a full-fledged dictator in the important ways.
172
Bug vs feature...
It's obvious Putin runs Russia as a kleptocracy. Control of every little thing isn't as important as enriching one's self and associates. Projects not being finished and cost overruns? Depending on where the shush goes it could be very beneficial to the bottom line of those that matter. That is a feature!
60
@wires
Well said!
Putin can have people killed. His reach in these matters extend across continents.
Putin can influence the outcome of elections in Western democracies.
Putin can invade countries and install Soviet puppet styled governments to do his bidding.
Putin can direct large sums of money to build dangerous new weapon systems and controls a large nuclear arsenal.
The fact that he could not have a Jehovah Witnesses sentence commuted, in the scheme of things, does not seem like a big deal.
111
Revisit your Tolstoy. Not much has changed since then. Even with the shedding of territory after the dissolution of the Russian (and then Soviet) Empire, the territorial expanse of the Russian Federation is beyond even our 50 states American comprehension. It spans nine time zones! There are fewer than 145 million people occupying this vast land mass. Moscow and St. Petersburg are located in the far western extremity. Even in the modern digital era, the distance between the central government and the far flung cities and provinces demands a high degree of ad hoc cooperation by provincial citizens simply for them to survive. The central government in a huge but thinly populated land can never maintain an infrastructure or exert the control we take for granted in more densely populated states.
19
This is all irrelevant to the impact that Putin and Russia have on the western democratic nations. In fact, it may be a plausible explanation for the revanchist, hostile and aggressive nature of Putin's actions toward what he regards as adversaries. It is commonly accepted that autocrats use the agitation toward a foreign "enemy" as a way to consolidate power, achieve some public approval through appealing to nationalism and patriotism, and a way to distract from the appalling conditions that the economy and infrastructure have deteriorated into. Using oil and gas revenues when those were at their highest value allowed Putin to get away with not diversifying the economy and modernizing conditions for everyone not in the Moscow-St Petersburg islands of relative prosperity.
The persecution of foreign investors, Ukrainians captured in various ways, including the sailors of the Ukrainian Navy,serve as another way to keep the focus on supposed enemies rather than the home front.
The fact that the FSB and GRU are allowed to run amok is more a sign of a rogue state than anything else. The entire country is a web of various forms of corruption, with Putin, the siloviki including the FSB and Kremlin associates and the Russian Mafia the main practitioners of the wholesale theft from the Russian people.
Much of the motivation on Putin's part is to protect this corruption and is also the reason the corruption of the judiciary to the point that the rule of law doesn't really exist.
27
@LibertyLover
Great knowledge of today’s reality of Russia! I agree wholeheartedly.
1
"How powerful is Vladimir Putin?"
Mr. Putin's principal avenue to power runs through Mr. Trump who has advanced his interests on every front. That's why, according to our own intelligence agencies and according to Mr. Mueller's investigation, Putin interfered in our elections on Trump's behalf. This international success has propped Putin up at home in Russia which is, according to most metrics, e.g., life expectancy, a failed state.
22
It almost seems like he is what, in a Western-style democracy might be called Head of State, but not necessarily Head of Government.
3
As a confirmed Realist there are 3 world powers. The US, China and Russia. Each with a specific model. What choice do any citizens of these three powers have.
3
Perhaps if Putin performed the business at hand, whether it be to build a highway between the two most populous cities in his country or to build a bridge connecting two superpowers, he wouldn’t have the time or inclination to meddle in Democratic countries’ elections or to use chemical weapons against his enemies. In this way, Putin lives in the past, not a future that can move forward without his small handed grip. A pint sized autocrat though he be, he knows all the buttons to push so that Trump kowtows to him.
33
maybe, but on the other hand of the American Government was more concentrating on fixing infrastructure and shore their social security and health care system, it didn't have much time and resources to wage wars all around the World.
11
@yulia
Countries occupied by the US -zero
Countries occupied by Russia - Part of Ukraine (Crimea) and supporting insurrectionists in eastern Ukraine by instgating the insurrection, supplyint the leaders of the insurrection, providing Russian officers, providing Russian special forces, providing armaments, providing monetary subsidies and supplies.
2
There are plenty of countries occupied by the US: Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq, the part of Syria, the part of Serbia (through the Annexion of Kosovo to benefit Albanian terrorist and NATO base in this area).
1
To borrow from President Obama, not much happens in Russia without Putin knowing. How tightly any one individual can control everything in a country with the population of Russia is another matter. But Putin is as intimidating a leader of that nation as possible.
45
It would be a good question to ask him or anyone for that matter philosophically. The question of whether or not someone is powerful is a question of seeming powerful. It would be interesting whether he would want to seem more powerful than he is or less powerful. Is it better for the powerful not to seem powerful or to seem more powerful? What furthers power--seeming less powerful than one is or seeming more powerful than one is; or is it dependent purely on circumstance. People want power but do not always want to seem powerful. That is the power of God. The power of the question of God--or Don Kane. The power over context. You should ask him. His answer would be very interesting.
@nickgregor: Donald Trump has a lot of power, but he is absolutely clueless as to how to use it an any positive way that would benefit the American people. And Putin has something on Trump. Perhaps Mr. Mueller's report, if released, will give us some clues about this situation.
14
It is about time that we realized that the Russian state, like most states, has interests, and the leaders of that state are constrained by those interests.
For example, Sevastopol in the Crimean peninsula has historically been the main warm water port of the Russian Navy since the times of Catherine the Great. Expecting Russia to surrender control over this vital military asset would be like expecting the U.S. to give up control over Pearl Harbor. For that reason, you can forget about Russia returning control of Crimea to a hostile Ukrainian government that was installed in a coup in 2014--not going to happen. This has nothing to do with Putin. Were he to act against his country's interests, he would soon be gone, replaced by someone even more "hard line".
47
@R.A.
Plus Khrushchev 'gave' Crimea to Ukraine after the Second World War in a very perfunctory way, probably after a few too many glasses. Who knows what the true legality of this cession of Russian territory to Ukraine really was in this case? It didn't matter at the time when both countries were part of the Soviet Union…. different times, different systems.
8
@R.A.
The invasion of Ukraine by Russia.
It was not a coup. Crimea was sovereign Ukrainian territory and continues to be.
The pretext for the invasion way laid by Russian diplomats while Yanukovych was still in power.
September 2013
"We don't want to use any kind of blackmail. This is a question for the Ukrainian people," said Glazyev. "But legally, signing this agreement about association with EU, the Ukrainian government violates the treaty on strategic partnership and friendship with Russia." When this happened, he said, Russia could no longer guarantee Ukraine's status as a state and could possibly intervene if pro-Russian regions of the country appealed directly to Moscow."
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/22/ukraine-european-union-trade-russia
2
@R.A.
I have to take exception to this rationalization for invading and annexing Crimea. Russia had its port there and there was no threat to that port even though it was on sovereign Ukrainian territory and used under a lease from Ukraine.
Also, describing the events that led to the fleeing of Yanukovych as a coup ignores the fact that Yanukovych fled like a thief in the night taking truckloads of booty with him after 100 unarmed civilians were murdered in the streets of Kyiv by Yanukovych's government. Had that not been done the agreement on early elections was already agreed to.
I call out Russian propagandist apologetics whenever I see it.
it is indeed amusing to hear someone refer to the government of Ukraine as hostile when the events of 2014 were telegraphed by Russian diplomats months before the change in Ukraine's leader.
This is October 2013:
""We don't want to use any kind of blackmail. This is a question for the Ukrainian people," said Glazyev. "But legally, signing this agreement about association with EU, the Ukrainian government violates the treaty on strategic partnership and friendship with Russia." When this happened, he said, Russia could no longer guarantee Ukraine's status as a state and could possibly intervene if pro-Russian regions of the country appealed directly to Moscow."
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/22/ukraine-european-union-trade-russia
Ukraine is a sovereign nation Neither Russia nor any other country is entitled to violate that.
4
Maybe time to admit that Russia is a modern democracy with a three-part government like ours? It's not surprising that Putin can't control Russian society any more than it's surprising that American presidents have not been able to control ours. Doesn't fit the narrative that Putin is "like a dictator," but reading the transcripts of what he actually says would dispel a lot of the false information about him.
20
@Roland Menge
I don't think Russia is a democracy, modern or otherwise. It is a puppet democracy with an autocrat controlling the mass media and controlling access to the political system any time any serious competition arises.
28
It seems the Russian Orthodox Church has such a powerful influnce, especially in the Province, that the Courts , when issuing verdicts , take this fact in consideration.
15
Yes. Same old, same old, same old bargain of corruption between the state and religion: The Putin and his Orthodox bishops deal .
1