Putin as president of Russia, good or bad?
Do you think Putin taking over from Medvedev for another term as president of Russia is a good thing or a bad thing for Russia and the world. Feel free to voice your views on the man himself and what you think of him in general.
Good
Side Score: 6
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Bad
Side Score: 1
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I think it's a very good thing for Russia, not for the West though, when the Berlin Wall fell the West metaphorically jizzed in their pants (pardon my french), and Yeltsin's tenure in th 90's proved to be one the worst times in recent history for most Russians (aside from a few greedy oligarchs who bled the country, e.g. Roman Abramovich), Putin unified the country, and he restored Russian dignity, he is corrupt, but he mainly facilitates it rather than deal in it himself, and political corruption in Russian is endemic, and always has been. Putin is the best choice for two very simple reasons: 1. Despite his 12 yr stint in power, serving both as president and prime minister, he still has majority support with the majority of Russians, although many elites, and the middle class have turrned against him, mainly due to frustration, and wanting something besides the status quo. 2. There are simply no strong or viable alternatives, I did some research into the candidates, and they all looked quite weak, I thought Mikhail Prokhorov might be a serious challenge to Putin, but I don't think he could win the trust of the people due to his shady past, and he must not have been that strong. Side: Good
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Personally I think your 2nd point is the strongest, to make him the best choice doesn't necessitate that he's any good, he must simply be better than the others. I mean, even in the Russian protests, they aren't calling for his resignation, for their own leaders to have power, nothing. They're simply calling for him to give them recognition in their system, a more democratic society. Side: Good
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I think he's more than proven his competence over the last 12 years, Russia has gone from strength to strength with him largely leading the line, admittedly this term will be much harder as he has lost significant support (ironically from the people who have benefitted most from the post-Yelztin era success, the middle class). He's going to need to make some serious political reforms, and I think he knows that, at least those are the nioses he seems to be making, perhaps it was just political posturing. As for the strength of each point, well , ya , I kinda agree, but the points are fairly co-dependent, the only reason I even separated them is because the opposition is so fractured, ranging from die hard skin head right wingers, to radical leftists. The communist party is still by far the second largest party, and although there is a significant amount of nostaligia in Russia for the Soviet era, I doubt there is any real appetite to give it another go. As for democracy, Russia is a complex place, Gorbachev's reforms after the collapse of the Union were far too extreme for the time, and the rapidity with which they were instituted with his Perestroika policy ended up being a massive detriment to the country and its development, then the subsequent economic shock therapy created another dark period in Russian history. Yes, Russia is not what we would call democracy, and yes, many people are becoming vocal, and demanding more representative government, but in order for reforms to work they need to be gradually implemented, especially in a country as vast and as complex as Russia. I just hope Putin delivers on the reforms hes promised. Side: Good
Just to set things straight and concise... I will say this about President Putin: he has brought stability to Russia and its great People, he has infused nationalism, and he has improved the military economy of the federation in a tremendous way. Russia, with it long history, will eventually prevail over the United States because unlike the U.S., Russia has experienced far more including monarchy, socialism, fascism, anarchy, dictatorship, and now, capitalism. What has America experienced... just capitalism. Russia is in a new light, the Slavic bear is done hibernating and is wide awake. The U.S. on the other hand is beginning to go under a cloud (also literally when it comes to genetic-engineering and chemtrails). I don’t feel like saying this, but the U.S. has many other dark things/experiences awaiting. The Russian people can deal with anything—and American’s have much to learn ahead. Side: Good
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