Putin's paranoia: fear and loathing inside the Kremlin

From the Guardian: Putin's paranoia: fear and loathing inside the Kremlin

Excerpt:

For many people in the west, Russian politics has become synonymous with the country’s secretive president, Vladimir Putin, who has been known to disappear for weeks without explanation.
But Putin does not work alone. As with most world leaders, he has a network of powerful allies around him – allies who both support and deceive him, according to a new book by the Russian journalist and opposition activist Mikhail Zygar.

The journalist founded the independent news network Dozhd (Rain), which was shut down by the government in 2014. He has spent years interviewing dozens of sources inside the Kremlin, and his book, All the Kremlin’s Men, paints a convincing portrait of the inside world of Russian politics, a place shrouded in conspiracy where “the biggest crime is being disloyal”.

Disputes over military action in Syria; events in Ukraine and nuclear posturing in the Baltics have left international tensions between Russia and the west at a post–cold war high, but at home Putin’s approval ratings remain strong and he is preparing to run for president again in early 2018.

So how did he get there? And what drives him forward? The Guardian asked Zygar to talk through his key findings from inside the seat of Russia’s power.

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What's happening in Russia today was almost predictable. Russian independence was supposed to bring Western-style freedoms, and the effort all came apart. Petroleum supplies (typically found below earth) are usually governed by countries. Not in the US, and not in Russia. They are up for sale to either the highest bidder or those who simply walk in and take them - which is what Putin let happen.

And it was the "Russian Petroleum Oligarchs" who became some of the world's richest people figuratively "overnight". They run Russia - and Tsar Vladimir is their "figurehead". Meaning what?

Meaning he has the power to kill any one of them who crosses him. And the police will not investigate nor will a court case convict him. (Not yet, at least.) We can all wish for a welcome heart attack, but for the moment Putin is ensconced in the Kremlin in very much the same way Hitler was entrenched in Nazi Germany. And, like Hitler, the people love him!

Moreover, it is not understandable, given the present Russian economic debacle resulting from the very large slide of petroleum export prices, why the Russian people still like this sordid character. One can only think that after decades upon decades of dysfunctional Communism, the Russian people haven't the faintest idea of what is called "democratic representation". Besides, they DID VOTE for the guy, and the parliament that supports him.

(Russia's intrusion in both the Ukraine and Syria were typical efforts to get Russian minds thinking of "Russian Might", and off a seriously degrading economy. Besides, Russia's only naval port on the Mediterranean happens to be in Latakia, the home town of Syria's President Assad ...)

So, we need not feel too bad for the Russian people. They had this coming, and now they can live with it. Not until they flood into the Kremlin and "retake it", will Tsar Vladimir leave power. Doing so would cost innumerable lives, so let's hope it doesn't happen. Because Tsar Vladimir will not do as the last one did - walk away with a whimper and allow his entire family to be slaughtered by the insurgent Communists in a nearby forest.

Russia's formational history over the past century is one of bloodshed, and will remain such - until the grain of real democracy miraculously takes root and the Russian people can get on with building a Real Democracy.

Don't count on it for any time soon ...