05-06-2017, 03:20 PM
Putin. What the heck does this dude want anyway? Why is he screwing around with elections? What is this all leading to?
I've been doing a little reading about this dude and modern Russia. I'll throw out some of the things that I've found.
Like all politicians, Putin craves power. His vehicle for achieving that (his power base) is his country Russia. Like all leaders, there are people in his country who like him and those who dislike him. And like all dynamic leaders those who support him really love him while those who dislike him really hate him. But his power base is pretty secure. Western governments generally estimate his approval rating within Russia at over 60%.
His measure of success in how much power he has is directly linked to how much power Russia has in the world. His goal is to make Russia more influential in the world. But his manner of raising Russia's influence and power in the world differs radically with how the Soviets tried to do that.
Putin subscribes in part to a lesser known (in the West) political doctrine: Eurasianism. Eurasianism is a doctrine created by Aleksandr Dugin, the former Head of the Department of Sociology of International Relations at Moscow University. Dugin was a dissident under the Soviets, but viewed the collapse of the Soviet Union as a geopolitical disaster. In his view, the collapse left a power vacuum with no one in the world able to challenge the power of the unified American and Western European bloc.
Dugin created the Eurasian Movement in 2001 which calls for the creation of a new "Russian Empire". The movement seeks to create a buffer zone of client states around Russia using former Soviet states such as Belarus, Ukraine, the Baltic States, Georgia, Azerbaijan, etc. The goal with these clients states is for Russia to exert control over the politics in these countries so that they are friendly to Russia and its goals without having to exert the same level of physical and direct control that the former Soviet Union had to exert over the Warsaw Pact nations. In other words, they want the populations of those areas to feel that they are freely making choices favorable to Russia. Some proponents of Eurasianism also propose eventually including other countries which share borders with Russia into this bloc, including Iran, Afghanistan, Mongolia and Turkey.
The purpose of creating this bloc is to create a power that can geopolitically challenge the U.S. and the West politically, economically, militarily and culturally and, ultimately, create a Russian style Monroe Doctrine over Europe and much of Asia. Russia would lead and dictate what goes on in Eurasia without militarily conquering it in much the same way the U.S. leads and dictates what goes on in the Western Hemisphere. Under the doctrine, Russia would necessarily support the traditional nationalities and religions in these areas.
In the Eurasian view, globalization, NATO and the European Union are the enemies to creating this entity. These are taught to be constructs of the "Atlantic World": groups that support hegemony of the U.S. and Western Europe. To combat these 'constructs', proponents of Eurasianism actively advocate nationalist movements and groups throughout the world. This interference is a 'win-win' situation for Eurasianists as, even if they are not able place a political group favorable to their goals into power in a country, they can disrupt the affairs of a country by creating internal political disruption and strife and thus keeping the population focused on its own problems and not on world affairs.
Because of their goals, Eurasian influence isn't limited solely to nationalist groups. They can reach out to right wing, leftists, Christian and even Muslim groups. In short, any group they feel they can recruit to fight globalization. They will also infiltrate opposing groups to influence or undermine their causes. This falls into line with Phase One goals of the current Russian military doctrine of Multi-Phase (or Full Spectrum) Warfare: the use of deception and information warfare to mobilize support and undermine an opponent's morale.
I've been doing a little reading about this dude and modern Russia. I'll throw out some of the things that I've found.
Like all politicians, Putin craves power. His vehicle for achieving that (his power base) is his country Russia. Like all leaders, there are people in his country who like him and those who dislike him. And like all dynamic leaders those who support him really love him while those who dislike him really hate him. But his power base is pretty secure. Western governments generally estimate his approval rating within Russia at over 60%.
His measure of success in how much power he has is directly linked to how much power Russia has in the world. His goal is to make Russia more influential in the world. But his manner of raising Russia's influence and power in the world differs radically with how the Soviets tried to do that.
Putin subscribes in part to a lesser known (in the West) political doctrine: Eurasianism. Eurasianism is a doctrine created by Aleksandr Dugin, the former Head of the Department of Sociology of International Relations at Moscow University. Dugin was a dissident under the Soviets, but viewed the collapse of the Soviet Union as a geopolitical disaster. In his view, the collapse left a power vacuum with no one in the world able to challenge the power of the unified American and Western European bloc.
Dugin created the Eurasian Movement in 2001 which calls for the creation of a new "Russian Empire". The movement seeks to create a buffer zone of client states around Russia using former Soviet states such as Belarus, Ukraine, the Baltic States, Georgia, Azerbaijan, etc. The goal with these clients states is for Russia to exert control over the politics in these countries so that they are friendly to Russia and its goals without having to exert the same level of physical and direct control that the former Soviet Union had to exert over the Warsaw Pact nations. In other words, they want the populations of those areas to feel that they are freely making choices favorable to Russia. Some proponents of Eurasianism also propose eventually including other countries which share borders with Russia into this bloc, including Iran, Afghanistan, Mongolia and Turkey.
The purpose of creating this bloc is to create a power that can geopolitically challenge the U.S. and the West politically, economically, militarily and culturally and, ultimately, create a Russian style Monroe Doctrine over Europe and much of Asia. Russia would lead and dictate what goes on in Eurasia without militarily conquering it in much the same way the U.S. leads and dictates what goes on in the Western Hemisphere. Under the doctrine, Russia would necessarily support the traditional nationalities and religions in these areas.
In the Eurasian view, globalization, NATO and the European Union are the enemies to creating this entity. These are taught to be constructs of the "Atlantic World": groups that support hegemony of the U.S. and Western Europe. To combat these 'constructs', proponents of Eurasianism actively advocate nationalist movements and groups throughout the world. This interference is a 'win-win' situation for Eurasianists as, even if they are not able place a political group favorable to their goals into power in a country, they can disrupt the affairs of a country by creating internal political disruption and strife and thus keeping the population focused on its own problems and not on world affairs.
Because of their goals, Eurasian influence isn't limited solely to nationalist groups. They can reach out to right wing, leftists, Christian and even Muslim groups. In short, any group they feel they can recruit to fight globalization. They will also infiltrate opposing groups to influence or undermine their causes. This falls into line with Phase One goals of the current Russian military doctrine of Multi-Phase (or Full Spectrum) Warfare: the use of deception and information warfare to mobilize support and undermine an opponent's morale.
![[Image: 416686247_404249095282684_84217049823664...e=659A7198]](https://scontent.fphx1-2.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/416686247_404249095282684_8421704982366424390_n.jpg?_nc_cat=102&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=3635dc&_nc_ohc=p8hMrwwk1IoAX8mnFLJ&_nc_ht=scontent.fphx1-2.fna&oh=00_AfBXs4gKHr4knFejO874dfV3zzLd_bq4GiUqHxGWFlwbug&oe=659A7198)
