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Inside Putin's Circle

ft.com

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Re: Inside Putin's Circle

#111

Post by Animats »

bogomipz wrote: post #96
Animats wrote: post #41

That's a very useful and important article. So that's who Putin talks to. A very small group who share his worldview: It is the manifest destiny of Mother Russia to have an empire in Eastern Europe. A key point that has emerged from a number of sources is that Putin's crowd has no plan B. This isn't considered by Russia's leadership to be just a military adventure - if it works, great, if it doesn't work, pull back a…

Curiously Orthodox Christian mysticism creeps in to this sense of destiny as well which is really scary. See: "Russia’s Menacing Mix of Religion and Nuclear Weapons In the Kremlin, Faith and Force Go Hand in Hand"[1] Another member of this inner circle not named in this article is Yuri Kovalchuk who's the largest sharedholders in Rossiya Bank in addition to National Media Group. He is a long time friend and advisor t…

Putin finds the support of the Russian Orthodox Church useful, but it's not clear whether he believes in it.

Re: Inside Putin's Circle

#112

Post by 323 »

thriftwy wrote: post #89

Better read https://sputnikipogrom.com/politics/30301/story-of-faded-lov... (ru) All the Putinology tries to sell you that the trouble with Putin is entirely subjective. But it's not (that much).

> Explaining his position on NATO, Putin said that Russia is part of European culture. “I can't imagine my own country apart from Europe and the so-called civilized world, so I can hardly imagine NATO as an enemy.

The problem is that the Russian understanding of "civilized" is different from the Western one.

Just look at the "civilized" way he treats his people.

Let's not even talk about the Moscow bombings that got him into power. The "it was an inside job" conspiracy is true, but in Russia, not in USA.

Putin views what he's doing now in Ukraine as a civilized thing to do, Russia was promised things, wronged and now he's solving the problem after warning about it. Like civilized man do.

This is why Russia will never be in NATO. Everybody understands that the Russian bear will lash out after a perceived slight.

There is a great talk about "honor culture" versus "dignity culture". Russia is a "honor culture", the West is a "dignity culture". They don't mix.

Re: Inside Putin's Circle

#113

Post by cellis »

notyourwork wrote: post #38
mmaunder wrote: post #31

I’ve been a paid subscriber of FT for years. It’s horrifically expensive and worth every penny.

I had to check pricing after reading your comment. $375/year! That sounds crazy.

Bloomberg is even more at $415, and that's just the baby bloomberg! I pay for it and think it's worth it too.

Re: Inside Putin's Circle

#114

Post by scrubs »

khuey wrote: post #104
JumpCrisscross wrote: post #61

"I believe, however, that Putin and the siloviki (though not many in the wider elites) welcome this isolation [from the west]. They are becoming impressed with the Chinese model: a tremendously dynamic economy, a disciplined society and a growing military superpower ruled over with iron control by a hereditary elite that combines huge wealth with deep patriotism, promoting the idea of China as a separate and superior…

"The Chinese model" is fundamentally underwritten by exporting vast quantities of goods to the West which Putin just blew up any hope of doing.

Correct! Now not to say some basic competency was not there - b/c it was - but trade with west is a major part of their success sort of like Japan kind of presaged for them in the 1980s.

Re: Inside Putin's Circle

#115

Post by [deleted] »

ghaff wrote: post #71
notyourwork wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I had to check pricing after reading your comment. $375/year! That sounds crazy.

New York Times is around $200. The Economist is something north of $100. So the FT is on the high side but hardly out of the ballpark.

[deleted]

Re: Inside Putin's Circle

#116

Post by scrubs »

AnimalMuppet wrote: post #81
JumpCrisscross wrote: post #61

"I believe, however, that Putin and the siloviki (though not many in the wider elites) welcome this isolation [from the west]. They are becoming impressed with the Chinese model: a tremendously dynamic economy, a disciplined society and a growing military superpower ruled over with iron control by a hereditary elite that combines huge wealth with deep patriotism, promoting the idea of China as a separate and superior…

But Putin and Co don't seem to have the tools to create a dynamic economy or a disciplined society. They may admire China; they can't follow the pattern.

Agreed. And the reverse ... Russia may talk up china and vice versa but china more likely does that to annoy the west. China cannot see Russia as a going concern or model except for 1-3 year tactical eg. import Russian energy that Europe is buying anymore

Re: Inside Putin's Circle

#117

Post by bogomipz »

Animats wrote: post #111
bogomipz wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Curiously Orthodox Christian mysticism creeps in to this sense of destiny as well which is really scary. See: "Russia’s Menacing Mix of Religion and Nuclear Weapons In the Kremlin, Faith and Force Go Hand in Hand"[1] Another member of this inner circle not named in this article is Yuri Kovalchuk who's the largest sharedholders in Rossiya Bank in addition to National Media Group. He is a long time friend and advisor t…

Putin finds the support of the Russian Orthodox Church useful, but it's not clear whether he believes in it.

He doesn't need to believe in it though for the narrative to be useful and effective.

Re: Inside Putin's Circle

#118

Post by agumonkey »

jfk13 wrote: post #47
notyourwork wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I had to check pricing after reading your comment. $375/year! That sounds crazy.

Does a dollar a day sound more affordable? Just read the news over a cup of home-brewed coffee instead of getting a take-out, and you should easily break even. :)

yeah it sure is not a lot.. we waste that without thinking usually

Re: Inside Putin's Circle

#120

Post by dragonwriter »

qiskit wrote: post #65
SkinTaco wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What were you hoping the readers of your comment would gain from your comment? Apologies if this comes off abrasively. This is a genuine question that thought to myself when I read your comment. I can't think of a better way to phrase it.

Edification. Nobody says "wear a gun". It doesn't sound right. Was assuming the commenter was a non-native english speaker and was helping him out.

> Nobody says "wear a gun". It doesn't sound right.

Native speaker, I have heard other native speakers say (or seen them write) “wear a gun” quite a bit. “Carry” seems to be more currently common, but far from exclusive.

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