Could Putin Quit?

seriously, he didn't help Trump get power, because if so - Russia has meddled in every US election, otherwise the whole story makes no sense.

spot on, and he is a 007, however not only for Russia but mainly for other countries geopolitical affairs.

 

as for him to retire, if he ever does, it would be Russia most likely (remember Yeltsyn) or Britain if he is unsafe in his country (cue Abramovitch).

 

From the link--the author requested that her article be passed along:

Is Putin incorruptible? U.S. insider's view of the Russian president's character and his country's transformation

Sharon Tennison
Russia: Other Points of View
Mon, 21 Apr 2014 12:15 UTC
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U can't touch this
Friends and colleagues,

As the Ukraine situation has worsened, unconscionable misinformation and hype is being poured on Russia and Vladimir Putin.

Journalists and pundits must scour the Internet and thesauruses to come up with fiendish new epithets to describe both.

Wherever I make presentations across America, the first question ominously asked during Q&A is always, "What about Putin?"

It's time to share my thoughts which follow:

Putin obviously has his faults and makes mistakes. Based on my earlier experience with him, and the experiences of trusted people, including U.S. officials who have worked closely with him over a period of years, Putin most likely is a straight, reliable and exceptionally inventive man. He is obviously a long-term thinker and planner and has proven to be an excellent analyst and strategist. He is a leader who can quietly work toward his goals under mounds of accusations and myths that have been steadily leveled at him since he became Russia's second president.

I've stood by silently watching the demonization of Putin grow since it began in the early 2000s - - I pondered on computer my thoughts and concerns, hoping eventually to include them in a book (which was published in 2011). The book explains my observations more thoroughly than this article. Like others who have had direct experience with this little known man, I've tried to no avail to avoid being labeled a "Putin apologist". If one is even neutral about him, they are considered "soft on Putin" by pundits, news hounds and average citizens who get their news from CNN, Fox and MSNBC.

I don't pretend to be an expert, just a program developer in the USSR and Russia for the past 30 years. But during this time, I've have had far more direct, on-ground contact with Russians of all stripes across 11 time zones than any of the Western reporters or for that matter any of Washington's officials. I've been in country long enough to ponder Russian history and culture deeply, to study their psychology and conditioning, and to understand the marked differences between American and Russian mentalities which so complicate our political relations with their leaders. As with personalities in a family or a civic club or in a city hall, it takes understanding and compromise to be able to create workable relationships when basic conditionings are different. Washington has been notoriously disinterested in understanding these differences and attempting to meet Russia halfway.

In addition to my personal experience with Putin, I've had discussions with numerous American officials and U.S. businessmen who have had years of experience working with him - - I believe it is safe to say that none would describe him as "brutal" or "thuggish", or the other slanderous adjectives and nouns that are repeatedly used in western media.

I met Putin years before he ever dreamed of being president of Russia, as did many of us working in St.Petersburg during the 1990s. Since all of the slander started, I've become nearly obsessed with understanding his character. I think I've read every major speech he has given (including the full texts of his annual hours-long telephone "talk-ins" with Russian citizens). I've been trying to ascertain whether he has changed for the worse since being elevated to the presidency, or whether he is a straight character cast into a role he never anticipated - - and is using sheer wits to try to do the best he can to deal with Washington under extremely difficult circumstances. If the latter is the case, and I think it is, he should get high marks for his performance over the past 14 years. It's not by accident that Forbes declared him the most Powerful Leader of 2013, replacing Obama who was given the title for 2012. The following is my one personal experience with Putin.

The year was 1992...

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Sharon Tennison
It was two years after the implosion of communism; the place was St.Petersburg. For years I had been creating programs to open up relations between the two countries and hopefully to help Soviet people to get beyond their entrenched top-down mentalities. A new program possibility emerged in my head. Since I expected it might require a signature from the Marienskii City Hall, an appointment was made. My friend Volodya Shestakov and I showed up at a side door entrance to the Marienskii building. We found ourselves in a small, dull brown office, facing a rather trim nondescript man in a brown suit. He inquired about my reason for coming in. After scanning the proposal I provided he began asking intelligent questions. After each of my answers, he asked the next relevant question. I became aware that this interviewer was different from other Soviet bureaucrats who always seemed to fall into chummy conversations with foreigners with hopes of obtaining bribes in exchange for the Americans' requests. CCI stood on the principle that we would never, never give bribes. This bureaucrat was open, inquiring, and impersonal in demeanor. After more than an hour of careful questions and answers, he quietly explained that he had tried hard to determine if the proposal was legal, then said that unfortunately at the time it was not. A few good words about the proposal were uttered. That was all. He simply and kindly showed us to the door. Out on the sidewalk, I said to my colleague, "Volodya, this is the first time we have ever dealt with a Soviet bureaucrat who didn't ask us for a trip to the US or something valuable!" I remember looking at his business card in the sunlight - - it read Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin.

1994

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Putin as Deputy Mayor of St. Petersburg in the early 90s.
U.S. Consul General Jack Gosnell put in an SOS call to me in St.Petersburg. He had 14 Congress members and the new American Ambassador to Russia, Thomas Pickering, coming to St.Petersburg in the next three days. He needed immediate help. I scurried over to the Consulate and learned that Jack intended me to brief this auspicious delegation and the incoming ambassador. I was stunned but he insisted. They were coming from Moscow and were furious about how U.S. funding was being wasted there. Jack wanted them to hear the "good news" about CCI's programs that were showing fine results. In the next 24 hours Jack and I also set up "home" meetings in a dozen Russian entrepreneurs' small apartments for the arriving dignitaries (St.Petersburg State Department people were aghast, since it had never been done before - - but Jack overruled). Only later in 2000, did I learn of Jack's former three-year experience with Vladimir Putin in the 1990s while the latter was running the city for Mayor Sobchak. More on this further down.

December 31, 1999

With no warning, at the turn of the year, President Boris Yeltsin made the announcement to the world that from the next day forward he was vacating his office and leaving Russia in the hands of an unknown Vladimir Putin. On hearing the news, I thought surely not the Putin I remembered - - he could never lead Russia. The next day a NYT article included a photo. Yes, it was the same Putin I'd met years ago! I was shocked and dismayed, telling friends, "This is a disaster for Russia, I've spent time with this guy, he is too introverted and too intelligent - - he will never be able to relate to Russia's masses." Further, I lamented: "For Russia to get up off of its knees, two things must happen: 1) The arrogant young oligarchs have to be removed by force from the Kremlin, and 2) A way must be found to remove the regional bosses (governors) from their fiefdoms across Russia's 89 regions". It was clear to me that the man in the brown suit would never have the instincts or guts to tackle Russia's overriding twin challenges.

February 2000

Almost immediately Putin began putting Russia's oligarchs on edge. In February a question about the oligarchs came up; he clarified with a question and his answer: "What should be the relationship with the so-called oligarchs? The same as anyone else. The same as the owner of a small bakery or a shoe repair shop." This was the first signal that the tycoons would no longer be able to flaunt government regulations or count on special access in the Kremlin. It also made the West's capitalists nervous. After all, these oligarchs were wealthy untouchable businessmen - - good capitalists, never mind that they got their enterprises illegally and were putting their profits in offshore banks.

Four months later Putin called a meeting with the oligarchs and gave them his deal: They could keep their illegally-gained wealth-producing Soviet enterprises and they would not be nationalized .... IF taxes were paid on their revenues and if they personally stayed out of politics. This was the first of Putin's "elegant solutions" to the near impossible challenges facing the new Russia. But the deal also put Putin in crosshairs with US media and officials who then began to champion the oligarchs, particularly Mikhail Khodorkovsky. The latter became highly political, didn't pay taxes, and prior to being apprehended and jailed was in the process of selling a major portion of Russia's largest private oil company, Yukos Oil, to Exxon Mobil. Unfortunately, to U.S. media and governing structures, Khodorkovsky became a martyr (and remains so up to today).

March 2000

ImageI arrived in St.Petersburg. A Russian friend (a psychologist) since 1983 came for our usual visit. My first question was, "Lena what do you think about your new president?" She laughed and retorted, "Volodya! I went to school with him!" She began to describe Putin as a quiet youngster, poor, fond of martial arts, who stood up for kids being bullied on the playgrounds. She remembered him as a patriotic youth who applied for the KGB prematurely after graduating secondary school (they sent him away and told him to get an education). He went to law school, later reapplied and was accepted. I must have grimaced at this, because Lena said, "Sharon in those days we all admired the KGB and believed that those who worked there were patriots and were keeping the country safe. We thought it was natural for Volodya to choose this career. My next question was, "What do you think he will do with Yeltsin's criminals in the Kremlin?" Putting on her psychologist hat, she pondered and replied, "If left to his normal behaviors, he will watch them for a while to be sure what is going on, then he will throw up some flares to let them know that he is watching. If they don't respond, he will address them personally, then if the behaviors don't change - - some will be in prison in a couple of years." I congratulated her via email when her predictions began to show up in real time.

 

And Putin was not? Oh that's right we're supposed to be demonizing him. He's a dictator, he's a dictator, he's a dictator.

And here's Herr Putin's inauguration speech:



I guess they liked his speech. [/QUOTE]
Russian elections, hahaha.

 

How so?

 

Oh well, if that august publication the Daily Star says he has a fortune of 211 billion us dollars then he must have a fortune of 211 billion us dollars.

 

You guys who see Putin as evil really are just part of the problem.

Russia needs a strong man to lead them or they will slip back into the 90's/00's and their country will slowly crumble.

Putin is giving them pride, something to look to and something to focus on. Now, I am not really a fan that his anti is so against the West, but in doing so he is creating a common enemy for his people.

What is best for Russia is not best for the US, or Germany or .... anyone really. Globalism cannot work, at least not yet. The cultures are too different and the people are too separated by their beliefs.

Nationalism still is the best way IMO to allow groups of people to govern themselves as they see fit.

I know the argument that will come back is that he is oppressing the people and that they really don't WANT him in power, but I don't buy it. I think the majority of Russians love Putin for making them SOMETHING again.

Have you looked at the population growth of Russia? It is going to be in the negative numbers for 2017 (estimated, but so far looks to be correct)

There are tons of fascinating theories about how negative population growth is incredibly detrimental to a nations future. I personally think you need to look at the positives of it too, less people to feed, less economic growth needed.

Would you rather have nation A, B, C or D? =They all have radically different statistics and all require radically different ideas to govern. THIS is why globalism cannot work yet, we need to many unique solutions that cannot be won through some Deus Ex Machina type movie plot. Well, unless aliens DO actually invade .... then you will see humans band together for the first time in history. Right before the species who managed to get here laughs and wipes us off the planet.... Anyways, I digress....
GDP Growth Rate Population Growth Rate
USA A) 1.6% GDP Growth + .77%
Russia B) -.2% GDP 'Growth' - .03%
Germany C) 1.8% GDP Growth - .18%
Japan D) 1.0% GDP Growth - .13%

That very small sample size of data alone really can tell you a lot about what each country is looking at for the future

 

And the world needs dictators. We could use a bit of dictatorship here in this madhouse.

 

And the world needs dictators. We could use a bit of dictatorship here in this madhouse.[/QUOTE]

It is fascinating to look at the politics today and compare them with Rome in about ..... what was it 40 BC?

Julius Caesar was really the guy to get things started, but when Octavian became Augustus and basically starting ordering people to do what he said, SHYTE GOT DONE!!!!

The Romans were so sick and tired of the Marius/Sulla, Pompey/Caesar/Crassus that when a dude walked in who was intelligent and actually knew what to do, the people loved it.

I would personally be ok with Emperor Mark Cuban, but most people with that much power terrify me at the moment

 

Nobody wants to live in a dictatorship but sometimes one is needed to undo the damage liberals have caused.

 

From what I have read, I would have LOVED to live under Augustus during say 10 BC if I was a Roman citizen.

Likewise I think the people of Libya would prefer to overall go back to Gadaffi than what is going on now.

There is no silver bullet for any problem unfortunately. White the whole "Democracy for all" sounds great, we are unfortunately having to deal with the after effects now.

 

thats the point indeed how so?

 

In Russia?

 

I'll bet a silver dollar they would, as would Iraqis prefer Saddam to be in charge. Can anyone possibly imagine what Syria would be like now if it wasn't for Assad and the Russians? Worse than Libya and Iraq combined I'd guess. WTF do we keep going into this god-forsaken region.

 

Yup, glad to see you agree.

Again, in theory, if everyone has the same level of education of the West, Democracy would ideally be the best bet for the people to make their decisions.

But the people of these countries often have the education of an 8th grader, they NEED a strong arm to handle what is going on

 

Well they always seem happy enough to me whenever news footage is showing Russians on the streets, so Putin must be doing something right? Maybe our leaders could learn a thing or two from him?

 

The Russian media is much more strict than Western media becuase they basically only have one party. The one good thing about having Republicans and Democrats for the US, is that they are constantly trying to make each other like crap. So at least we get to see the bad things going on.

With sources like RT and Sputnik, it is basically like listening to nothing but CNN and MSNBC.

But overall, I think the Russians are more than happy with the change Putin has made on the world stage, even though it could be argued they are only getting one side of the story

 

Exactly right - just to restore the social equilibrium, then return to as things should be. Get the scum and the criminals on the run; put them on the defensive for a change, instead of us decent people?

 

I read somewhere that a proportion of the Russian population would like a return to pre perestroika. Back to the good old days.
Certainly democracy isn't suitable for every country- yet.

 

No, I'm sorry, I wasn't clear.

You said; "seriously, he didn't help Trump get power, because if so - Russia has meddled in every US election, otherwise it makes no sense"

And what I want to know is why is THAT? Why does it only make sense for Russia to interfere with our elections if it has always done so?

 

Or conservatives/royalists/nonroyalists etc etc. All dictators say that, the old Mussolini thing, "he made the trains run on time" bullshit

 

It is fascinating to look at the politics today and compare them with Rome in about ..... what was it 40 BC?

Julius Caesar was really the guy to get things started, but when Octavian became Augustus and basically starting ordering people to do what he said, SHYTE GOT DONE!!!!

The Romans were so sick and tired of the Marius/Sulla, Pompey/Caesar/Crassus that when a dude walked in who was intelligent and actually knew what to do, the people loved it.

I would personally be ok with Emperor Mark Cuban, but most people with that much power terrify me at the moment[/QUOTE]

The ideal man to the Romans was Cincinnatus. He was also the ideal man to most of the Founding Fathers. Garry Wills bio of George Washington is called Cincinnatus in recognition of the many real parallels in the lives of both men

http://www.badassoftheweek.com/cincinnatus.html

 

not only for Russia but also other countries. Europe & Britain specifically, and Russia's not the main player in this.

 

I think thats bullshit excuses.

Russia could never interfer in german elections for example. Where are those master mind russians who cant even let trains run according to time in russia but obviously have the power to change world politics?

Beside that from german side of view Putin should not quit. He is our man in moscow and there is no one who could replace him