Boxed in, especially by his own goons. Maybe read Sun Tzu about leaving an opening free to a trapped adversary... Difficult, of course, when that adversary is, like his American vassal, a tank without a reverse gear.
Boxed in, especially by his own goons. Maybe read Sun Tzu about leaving an opening free to a trapped adversary... Difficult, of course, when that adversary is, like his American vassal, a tank without a reverse gear.
I feel that all of us armchair warriors should. It might cool our heads while helping us at least to understand better what is going on, together with the potentialities of the situation.
Do you feel that if Trumpism is successful in the US, and democracy fails here, the impact on the rest of the world will be calamitous? To what extent?
Yes, Kathy, that is what makes me so vociferous here. American soft power has always been immense, and that has, naturally played both ways, for better and for worse.
You might, for example, be surprised by the confidence many Soviet citizens felt in America's political institutions (corresponding to mistrust of their own). Many of the ruling caste, however, believed their own propaganda so much that, when the empire collapsed, they launched enthusiastically into the most caricatural forms of "capitalism as theft". This seems to have been Putin's motivation, the moment that opportunity knocked... To become as rich as Croesus...
There has surely been nothing like this accumulation of both power and wealth in the tsar's hands since the reign of Ivan the Terrible.
This surely makes the regime very dangerous, especially for Russians. Observe Chechynia. Observe Belarus, until recently so deeply and naturally pro-Russian. Observe Syria, where Putin delivered an object lesson to his own people, especially the large Muslim minority. Perhaps a dress rehearsal for the revenge of oligarchy if anyone tries to share in its spoils uninvited.
I just marked "like" ---- but who can like such a dreadful aberration?
In the Russian system now, all those oligarchs who remain in place are servants of the regime, living and enjoying their gains at Putin's pleasure, his and that of his inner circle of old judo partners, KGB and military types. Their power, their autonomy is great but strictly circumscribed. Apart from making themselves useful when called upon to do so, politics is strictly off limits.
I have just been hearing of events in Kazakhstan, meaning that the Russian regime is suddenly faced with yet another challenging situation on its borders -- all free expression on the part of people in neighboring States being perceived by these paranoid kings-of-the-castle as a challenge, a threat...
Boxed in, especially by his own goons. Maybe read Sun Tzu about leaving an opening free to a trapped adversary... Difficult, of course, when that adversary is, like his American vassal, a tank without a reverse gear.
Always leave the weasel a back door.
I need to reread The Art of War.
I feel that all of us armchair warriors should. It might cool our heads while helping us at least to understand better what is going on, together with the potentialities of the situation.
Do you feel that if Trumpism is successful in the US, and democracy fails here, the impact on the rest of the world will be calamitous? To what extent?
Yes, Kathy, that is what makes me so vociferous here. American soft power has always been immense, and that has, naturally played both ways, for better and for worse.
You might, for example, be surprised by the confidence many Soviet citizens felt in America's political institutions (corresponding to mistrust of their own). Many of the ruling caste, however, believed their own propaganda so much that, when the empire collapsed, they launched enthusiastically into the most caricatural forms of "capitalism as theft". This seems to have been Putin's motivation, the moment that opportunity knocked... To become as rich as Croesus...
There has surely been nothing like this accumulation of both power and wealth in the tsar's hands since the reign of Ivan the Terrible.
This surely makes the regime very dangerous, especially for Russians. Observe Chechynia. Observe Belarus, until recently so deeply and naturally pro-Russian. Observe Syria, where Putin delivered an object lesson to his own people, especially the large Muslim minority. Perhaps a dress rehearsal for the revenge of oligarchy if anyone tries to share in its spoils uninvited.
Right. The collapse of the U.S.S.R. brought about the age of the Oligarchs. Kinda like where the US money is concentrated with the top 1%.
I just marked "like" ---- but who can like such a dreadful aberration?
In the Russian system now, all those oligarchs who remain in place are servants of the regime, living and enjoying their gains at Putin's pleasure, his and that of his inner circle of old judo partners, KGB and military types. Their power, their autonomy is great but strictly circumscribed. Apart from making themselves useful when called upon to do so, politics is strictly off limits.
I have just been hearing of events in Kazakhstan, meaning that the Russian regime is suddenly faced with yet another challenging situation on its borders -- all free expression on the part of people in neighboring States being perceived by these paranoid kings-of-the-castle as a challenge, a threat...