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Inside Putin's Circle

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Re: Inside Putin's Circle

#191

Post by yucky »

jacquesm wrote: post #159
yucky wrote: post #148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That tends to happen when someone turns out to have accurately predicted the future.

No, it's just that he happens to allow you and others to do what you like about it: trumpet all over that 'the West' caused Russia's invasion into Ukraine. When in fact if you follow that line of thought it was Hitlers mom who caused World War II. The only person responsible for the invasion into Ukraine is Putin, it was entirely optional, no matter who predicted that it would happen. Also: there is a substantial num…

It doesn't take much imagination to think what the US would do if China began to make a "special pact" with Mexico. The US would very aggressively put that to an end, one way or another. This is essentially the same. Of course if we continue to coax the expansion of NATO (ie the international arm of the US military) onto the Russian border it will cause problems. Why would we ever pretend otherwise?

Re: Inside Putin's Circle

#192

Post by pandaman »

richardknop wrote: post #166
just-ok wrote: post #145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

“sila” is strength, not power. Power is “vlast.”

Are you sure about that? I know Google Translate says "vlast" but I speak a Slavic language and "vlast" means motherhood/home in my language. Could be just the online translation not being accurate?

Tons of "false friends" between Slavic languages. E.g. "urod" could mean "beauty" in some and "freak" in others. In Russian "sila" means primarily "force" or "strength" and in the context of "siloviki" it refers to the armed forces and law enforcement as the top of this thread states.

Re: Inside Putin's Circle

#193

Post by pstuart »

khuey wrote: post #190
pstuart wrote: post #186

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oops, forgot about wheat -- that's a real concern. I was going to add weapons to my list but it was more along the lines of "consumer oriented" goods. On the other hand, my comment does diddly squat to our relations. Please go on and explain how I'm contributing to international tensions with my not-fully-informed question.

Can't imagine this war is doing any favors to the Russian arms exporters.

Can't image this war is doing any favors for anybody, including Putin.

Re: Inside Putin's Circle

#194

Post by fouc »

mikkom wrote: post #119

Evaluation of Russia by Finnish Intelligence Colonel (subtitles) https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=kF9KretXqJw I think this is something you should watch if you are interested in how russia works. It's very straight talk and clarified russian mindset a lot for me at least.

Interesting bits:

* “the Russians have the ability to expect and endure a tremendous amount of suffering”.. “they have made suffering a virtue”

* “global recession is not really a problem to Russia since they are in a recession all the time anyway”

Kind of suggestive that what's happening won't be over anytime soon.

Re: Inside Putin's Circle

#195

Post by [deleted] »

netsharc wrote: post #132
stjohnswarts wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

that's not going to happen. When they try to take a NATO country it's over for them. Possibly over for all of us.

It seems like Putin will only surrender after he's expended everything he's got, and among "everything he's got" includes several thousand nuclear missiles...

[deleted]

Re: Inside Putin's Circle

#197

Post by petre »

fouc wrote: post #194
mikkom wrote: post #119

Evaluation of Russia by Finnish Intelligence Colonel (subtitles) https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=kF9KretXqJw I think this is something you should watch if you are interested in how russia works. It's very straight talk and clarified russian mindset a lot for me at least.

Interesting bits: * “the Russians have the ability to expect and endure a tremendous amount of suffering”.. “they have made suffering a virtue” * “global recession is not really a problem to Russia since they are in a recession all the time anyway” Kind of suggestive that what's happening won't be over anytime soon.

What do you expect, really? Russians live in feudalism, only with modern technology. They haven't known anything other than totalitarian regimes, and when they had a little democracy after '91, it all fell apart for most of them. Maybe all of the interested parties should read a bit of Russian literature? If you want shortcuts, just read Vladimir Sorokin, but it's really more nuanced. The thing about suffering is also very enshrined in the Eastern Orthodox mindset.

Re: Inside Putin's Circle

#198

Post by hunterb123 »

murderfs wrote: post #171
IncRnd wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Sounds a lot like organized crime, is it supposed to have that undertone? As does "Department of Homeland Security". That was the first federal agency named that way, and prior to that people would have thought that sort of naming to be associated with the Stassi or a totalitarian regime. I suppose it is commonplace now.

"Federal Bureau of Investigation" or "Secret Service" aren't particularly friendly sounding names either...

Friendly sounding to whom?

Re: Inside Putin's Circle

#199

Post by petre »

hcarvalhoalves wrote: post #72
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 idea of a centralised planned state fell with the USSR, and it was widely argued that it fell _because_ of central planning. China is becoming a counter-example for the people who have always been fond of the idea of having a state ruled by an "elite", with the perception that democracy is fragile and doesn't work for long-term (more than a 4/5 years mandate) planning.

> democracy is fragile and doesn't work for long-term (more than a 4/5 years mandate) planning

Which is moot, because the USSR planning model also had 5 year plans. Also some European democracies are run by a coalition. See for example the Nederlands and also Germany to a lower degree. It's less efficient in case of armed conflict, but most people are represented in times of peace.

Re: Inside Putin's Circle

#200

Post by petre »

pstuart wrote: post #125
khuey wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

Other than fossil fuels and vodka, what does Russia have to offer the world?

Russian literature, ballet, gymnastics, classical music among other things. Come on, you can't possibly equate a 144M country with gas, vodka or Putin.
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