VLADIMIR PUTIN
ARCHIVE OF THE OFFICIAL SITE
OF THE 2008-2012 PRIME MINISTER
OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION
VLADIMIR PUTIN
ARCHIVE OF THE OFFICIAL SITE
OF THE 2008-2012 PRIME MINISTER
OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION
VLADIMIR PUTIN
Pour cerner Vladimir Poutine, le véritable maître de la Russie, il faut revenir au XIXe siècle finissant. L'aristocratie russe y traîne sa langueur et, comme dans l'oeuvre de Tchekhov, elle s'interroge sur sa propre vacuité et son incapacité à se satisfaire de ce qu'elle est. Consciente d'appartenir déjà au monde d'hier, elle se maintient dans une indolence cruelle. Nous sommes loin de la société capitaliste ébauchée par Engels et Marx. Vue de l'ouest de l'Europe, c'est une société postféodale qui ne parvient pas à se convaincre du bien-fondé du libéralisme, qu'une insuffisante bourgeoisie industrieuse tente de promouvoir contre l'esprit des aristocrates cultivés et des enfants de serfs incultes.
Just what exactly does Dmitry Medvedev want? Six months into his tenure at the Kremlin, the Russian president's signals are so mixed, he has Western policymakers and diplomats baffled. In speech after speech, to audiences at home and abroad, he has talked forcefully of putting an end to Russia's culture of corruption; diversifying Russia's economy beyond the oil and gas industry; integrating Russia into the world economy; instituting the rule of law; and guaranteeing freedom of speech.
Vladimir Putin said yesterday that Russia would come out of the current economic downturn "stronger and more competitive." Can the Russian press report that?
Reporting from Moscow -- In a nationally televised show of unruffled resolve, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin vowed Thursday to protect an increasingly anxious country from a return to economic chaos.
It is easy to be distracted by Vladimir Putin's footwork as he seeks to extend his hold on power in Russia. It would be equally easy to lose sight of Russia's new financial weakness, and how that could undermine his influence, whether as prime minister or as president again.
Russians have begun to feel the chill of the financial crisis, as it triggers layoffs and wage-payment delays reminiscent of the economic collapse in the late 1990s.
Even as Barack Obama faces front-page issues like Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan, he will still have to find the time and courage to deal with a certain nuclear-armed autocracy that controls much of the world's oil and gas.
The ink had barely dried on the final vote count when the testing of President-elect Barack Obama began. One of the first was by Vladimir Putin's puppet Russian President Dmitry Medvedev declaring that if the United States continued with its plan to deploy 10 ABM interceptor missiles into Poland and a radar in the Czech Republic, then Russia would move short range missiles into Kaliningrad, a Russian enclave on the Baltic, targeting Europe. Russia's excuse for this threat is that they were forced into it because the U.S. defensive system could be converted to an offensive system, targeting Russia. This is a contrived argument and Mr. Putin knows it is groundless.
Von einer Krise will die russische Regierung nichts hören und nichts lesen. Mit wilder Eile werden umwälzende Verfassungsänderungen durch das Parlament gepeitscht. Auch Journalisten werden an die kurze Leine genommen. Beim Parteitag der Kremlpartei darf niemand aus der Reihe tanzen.
For the first time in eight years, we Americans have a president who is cool. It starts with the Ray-Bans. Ray-Bans are the ultimate cool sunglass brand, evoking memories of the John F. Kennedy presidency, of sunny cruises off Cape Cod on his sloop Victura, with the tame photographers from Life magazine in tow.
