Reading Kasparov talk about Russia is like looking into a mirror, because what most don't realize is that the same thing has happened in Russia as in the United States (and quite a lot of other countries as well).
The only difference is that Putin has been more successful mainly because the economies of the major cities like Moscow and St Petersburg skyrocketed and the remaining depression and poverty of the rural areas is considered irrelevant from a political point of view and will never be reported in the foreign press either because the MSM never leaves Moscow. Add to that that Putin did not start wars during his reign, it obscured what has happened and that is that a small oligarch took over - many from the former KGB or the FSB - and added a flavor of mock democracy for the outside world. Just like the BFEE...
Don Putin To understand today's Russia, read "The Godfather." BY GARRY KASPAROV
Sunday, July 29, 2007 12:01 a.m. EDT
When Vladimir Putin took power in Russia in 2000, the burning question was: "Who is Putin?" It has now changed to: "What is the nature of Putin's Russia?" This regime has been remarkably consistent in its behavior, yet
foreign leaders and the Western press still act surprised at Mr. Putin's total disregard for their opinions.Again and again we hear cries of: "Doesn't Putin know how bad this looks?" When another prominent Russian journalist is murdered, when a businessman not friendly to the Kremlin is jailed, when a foreign company is pushed out of its Russian investment, when pro-democracy marchers are beaten by police, when gas and oil supplies are used as weapons, or when Russian weapons and missile technology are sold to terrorist sponsor states like Iran and Syria, what needs to be asked is what sort of government would continue such behavior. This Kremlin regime operates within a value system entirely different from that of the Western nations struggling to understand what is happening behind the medieval red walls.
Mr. Putin's government is unique in history.
This Kremlin is part oligarchy, with a small, tightly connected gang of wealthy rulers. It is partly a feudal system, broken down into semi-autonomous fiefdoms in which payments are collected from the serfs, who have no rights. Over this there is a democratic coat of paint, just thick enough to gain entry into the G-8 and keep the oligarchy's money safe in Western banks.
But if you really wish to understand the Putin regime in depth, I can recommend some reading. No Karl Marx or Adam Smith. Nothing by Montesquieu or Machiavelli, although the author you are looking for is of Italian descent. But skip Mussolini's "The Doctrine of Fascism," for now, and the entire political science section. Instead, go directly to the fiction department and take home everything you can find by Mario Puzo. If you are in a real hurry to become an expert on the Russian government, you may prefer the DVD section, where you can find Mr. Puzo's works on film.
"The Godfather" trilogy is a good place to start, but do not leave out "The Last Don," "Omerta" and "The Sicilian."
The web of betrayals, the secrecy, the blurred lines between what is business, what is government, and what is criminal--it's all there in Mr. Puzo's books. A historian looks at the Kremlin today and sees elements of Mussolini's "corporate state," Latin American juntas and Mexico's pseudo-democratic PRI machine. A Puzo fan sees the Putin government more accurately: the
strict hierarchy, the extortion, the intimidation, the code of secrecy and, above all, the mandate to keep the revenue flowing. In other words, a mafia.(...)
http://opinionjournal.com/extra/?id=110010398 One president is the head of the secret police and another president is the son of the head of the secret police. Coincidence?
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
