Category: Politics, Power, and Governance

http://www.businessinsider.com/george-friedman-putin-more-dangerous-than-ever-2016-1George Friedman: #Putin has 2 years to hold #Russia together

“Putin is more dangerous now than ever.”

Putin thinks like a Russian. (And not like a Jew or Protestant). And he plays the long game. Friedman is right about Putin’s resources. He is not right about what Russia and Putin will do -or how much they will bear – to restore their self confidence.

He will, in asiatic fashion, slowly withdraw and claim victories, and claim that his mission has been accomplished, and that now that russia’s place in the world has been restored, it is time to redouble russian efforts at home, and focus on the economy, to transform it from dependence upon oil, and to build her people, and the future.

He can do this because he can crush dissent, and chant this meme on the media. We forget that a competitive press is not always a good thing because like the stock market it focuses constantly on the short term.

And it is right for him and them as far as I know.

My position on Russia remains constant: speak the truth and that’s enough. Eastern Europe cannot be Russia’s. Russians are not capable of moral rule – even of themselves – yet. And eastern europeans do not need rule. They need a middle class. The last thing they need is more Russian influence.

But other than this, expansion into the more primitive countries, the suppression of islam, and unity between russia and china and the west is a good thing. We still have much of the world to civilize.