Reuters (July 17)
Following the 1986 Iceland Summit between Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev, the U.S. ultimately proved the victor. Three decades later, things look different. “Washington had another unparalleled opportunity,” but “the American president was outfoxed by a wily Russian leader playing from a position of unquestioned strength, toying with a deeply damaged counterpart.”
Tags: Damaged, Gorbachev, Iceland, Opportunity, Outfoxed, Putin, Reagan, Strength, Summit, Trump, U.S.
The Economist (March 24)
“Constitutionally Mr Putin cannot stand in 2024, and from now on political life will be dominated by the question of succession and expectation of his departure.” There is likely to be a generational sea change as the children and grandchildren of the glasnost and perestroika (openness and restructuring) sown by Gorbachev come to the fore. There will no doubt be tension. Putin’s very “own survival and preservation of the system he now presides over will be his sole objective.”
Tags: Constitution, Generational, Glasnost, Gorbachev, Perestroika, Putin, Sea change, Succession, Survival
New York Times (March 4)
“There can be little doubt now.” President Donald Trump “truly sees no danger in Mr. Xi’s ‘great’ decision to extend his own rule until death. That craven reaction is in line with Mr. Trump’s consistent support and even admiration for men ruling with increasing brutal and autocratic methods—Vladimir Putin of Russia, Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Rodrigo Duterte in the Philippines, to name a few.”
Tags: Admiration, Autocratic, Brutal, China, Duterte, Erdogan, Philippines, Putin, Rule, Russia, Trump, Turkey, U.S., Xi
Time (January 1)
“Russia’s President Vladimir Putin needs a time machine to take him back to March 2014, so he can stop at Crimea. Look at his poll numbers: the bump topped out when Putin added Crimea to the trophy case. The continuing fight in Ukraine’s eastern provinces has brought him nothing of value. He’ll be re-elected in March, but given the state of Russia’s economy, it won’t be long before he’s pining for a return to simpler times.”
Businessweek (September 13)
“As Putin prepares to run for a fourth term in elections next March, the plight of his working-class base across the Russian heartland is emerging as a top domestic challenge.” There’s little doubt Putin will win, “but the discontent threatens Putin’s popularity as the economy continues to sputter. After the longest recession in his 17-year rule, real incomes have fallen 12 percent over the past three years, sparking protests in areas that provided solid backing for Putin in 2012.”
Tags: Discontent, Economy, Elections, Heartland, Incomes, Popularity, Protests, Putin, Recession, Russia, Working class
US News & World Report (September 12)
Putin’s proposal to put U.N. Peacekeepers in Ukraine “seems to be a win-win for Moscow – even if it fails.” Whether it will be a “path to peace” remains to be seen and skeptics believe the Russian president is again scheming at something.
The Economist (July 29)
“This week’s exercises with Russia in the Baltic, meanwhile, suggest not only a shared enmity towards the West but also mutual admiration of each other’s thuggish political systems. President Xi Jinping has turned a blind eye to Russia’s land-grab in Ukraine, and President Vladimir Putin to China’s in the South China Sea.” That impression is slightly off the mark. There is actually little to fear. “In fact, America’s navy should co-operate more with China’s, too.”
Tags: Admiration, Baltic, China, Enmity, Exercises, Land-grab, Navy, Putin, Russia, U.S., Ukraine, Xi
Financial Times (April 19)
“After 15 years of Mr Erdogan’s tightening grip, first as prime minister and now as president, almost half the population said a resounding No to one-man rule.” Still, they did not prevail. “What Turks now face is not a French or US-style presidency but something like Vladimir Putin’s Kremlin rule — and half the country knows this well.”
Chicago Tribune (February 14)
“It would be tempting to say the alleged help in getting Donald Trump elected has backfired for Russian President Vladimir Putin, but that is not the case. Putin wants “an adversary with diminished moral standing and no appetite for meddling in far-off regions. Putin is enjoying all the benefits he could expect from the Trump administration without having to pay for them.”
Tags: Adversary, Backfired, Benefits, Diminished, Meddling, Moral standing, Putin, Trump Election
Chicago Tribune (January 3)
“Nothing significant happens in Russia, and no action is taken by Russia, without the knowledge of the man who has held total power there for 17 years, first as president and later as unchallenged dictator.” Putin has essentially “eliminated every form of real political and social opposition in Russia.” In short, the United States “doesn’t have a problem with Russia — it has a problem with Putin.”
Tags: Dictator, Opposition, Power, President, Putin, Russia, U.S., Unchallenged
