generalspeaking

Vladimir: A Biographical Sliver

"His whole training, his whole identity is as a KB field officer, a recruiter. That required what Putin himself has described as his ultimate skill, which is dealing with people... That spans the gamut from being very persuasive to just reminding people that if you don't work with me, the alternative is pretty bad."
"This guy is supremely self-confident. It's bordering on -- no it is -- arrogance. He really is convinced he is the smartest guy around."
"There's real rationality in Putin. It's so important to understand how he looks at the world."
Clifford Gaddy, Brookings Institution economist, co-author, Mr. Putin: Operative in the Kremlin

Clearly, German Chancellor Angela Merkel hasn't got around yet to burdening her busy schedule with the reading of this book, published last year. She feels, with the weight of her political antennae and her long and deep interaction with world leaders that Mr. Putin "is not of this world", somewhat deranged by his monomaniacal vision of self. Oh well, she's only a world leader of the most important country in the European Union, not a political pundit.

"Putin did all he could to bring back the life he had loved; the closed world of the Soviet Union and, even more important, the KGB. He also succeeded in transforming the country, turning back democratic reforms and ultimately establishing a thoroughly corrupt and inefficient authoritarian regime."
"He does care about the will and voice of the people, but that doesn't mean he's going to stand idly by and just let people vote."
Masha Gessen, journalist, author of The Man Without A Face

The Russian president-for-life has been accused of acquiring a fortune through dedicated corruption in the astronomical sphere of tens of billions of dollars. He has suppressed any and all political opposition, having opponents arrested on contrived charges and imprisoned. He has declared silent war on journalists who dare gather information that shines an unkind light on his enterprise and rule of Russia. And he zealously seeks public approval in Russia for his exploits, portraying him as the strongman that Russians adore.

His fifteen-year career in the Soviet spy agency, the KGB, a career that fulfilled his childhood aspirations, groomed him for the position he now holds and has firmly gripped since 2000. Born in St.Petersburg, then Leningrad in 1952, he has been described as a street brawler prepared to meet bullies on their turf, rather than withdraw beyond their reach. He studied law, and in 1975 began his KGB career in the intelligence agency's Dresden, East Germany office.

In 1990 he returned to St.Petersburg, working with a former law professor who became the city's first elected mayor. Vladimir Putin then went on to become deputy mayor, where, it has been suggested, he acquired his taste for kleptocratic self-availment, another skill he became most adept at. He siphoned off millions while issuing export licences to Russian companies for lumber and other commodities.

His Kremlin work moved him to Moscow in 1996 where he became head of the FSB, the successor organization to the KGB. And two years later, mentored by then-president Boris Yeltsin, became acting president when Mr. Yeltsin resigned. Which led later to his election to the office of president in 2000. He has never looked back, other than for the period when he played musical chairs with his own protege, Dmitry Medvedev, taking the position of Prime Minister until the constitution could be changed to allow him to return as president.

Vladimir Putin has every reason to believe he personally owns Russia, and he takes his responsibility to his ownership very seriously indeed. His fealty to Russia is reciprocated with an over-60% approval rating. Under his vigilant eye the Russian economy has grown and he has restored the country's 'dignity' and view of itself following the misery of the post-Communist years of turmoil and economic-political failures.

He has built a personal fortune estimated to be in the range of over $40-billion in cash, real estate and other assets. Thus claims Nina Khruscheva, a professor at New York's New School, granddaughter of former Soviet premier Nikita Khruschev.

Labels: Corruption, Crisis Management, Russia, Vladimir Putin

posted by Pieface @ Thursday, March 06, 2014