I thought that generally Putin was ok. But may be I was wrong. Here is a review of a recent book which is apparently heavily supported by documentary evidence. An excerpt:
"Indeed, in the months since Putin’s invasion of Crimea, it has become fashionable to suggest that the harder-line face that Putin has more recently shown to the world is somehow, once again, the West’s “fault,” that we have provoked Russia into autocratic behavior through our talk of democracy in Ukraine or that—once again—the “reform process” was somehow brought to a halt because the Russians felt threatened by the expansion of NATO or by Western policy in the Balkans.
"Indeed, in the months since Putin’s invasion of Crimea, it has become fashionable to suggest that the harder-line face that Putin has more recently shown to the world is somehow, once again, the West’s “fault,” that we have provoked Russia into autocratic behavior through our talk of democracy in Ukraine or that—once again—the “reform process” was somehow brought to a halt because the Russians felt threatened by the expansion of NATO or by Western policy in the Balkans.
But after reading Dawisha’s book, and after absorbing the implications of the stories she has so carefully pulled together from so many sources, it is simply not possible to take this argument seriously. Since 2000, Russia has been ruled by a revanchist, revisionist elite with origins in the old KGB. This elite had been working its way back to power since the late 1980s, using theft on a grand scale, taking advantage of the secrecy provided by Western offshore havens, and cooperating with organized crime." (via Chris Blattman and from a comment, the book has a website http://miamioh.edu/cas/academics/centers/havighurst/cultural-academic-resources/putins-russia/index.html )
1 comment:
But, personally, Putin has to be a little bit more than a thief.
A lot of what he is doing has probably to do with avoiding punishment for deaths, and he may he just like to want to rule more.
Of course, the book has some of that, like the bombing in Moscow in 1999. Later on, he killed Litvinenko (sp?) with polonium in London.
He may be doing thing few people yet suspect, like maybe the hijacking of Malaysian Airlines 370, the Charlie Hebdo attacks (by recruiting both ISIS and al Qaeda members, so as try to be an ally with some European countries)
He may be doing subcontracting for other dictators. In other words, There is probably more than we know, and I think it's not too directly related to personal stealing..
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