Re: Putin, note that he is from St.Petersburg - Russia's most "European" city.

[ArtTownsend]

Yet he grew up in the poor, burned out ruins of the post-WWII “Leningrad.” Putin desperately wants to be taken seriously as a Great Man, and Russia as a Great Power - a Great European Power - but Russia is not that powerful in and of itself. And Putin, rather than owning up to the harsh reality, has decided that it’s better to exploit the weaknesses of the European powers (and the USA, of course - the “Main Enemy”) in order to drag them down to Russia’s level.

On a related note: Putin wanted to be a KGB officer from a very early age. Yet while stationed in Dresden in the 1980s, he was by all accounts a decidedly average paper-pusher in the KGB. I think Putin has a massive inferiority complex about this, and about being left helpless in the face of the Berlin Wall coming down and the East German regime’s collapse (“Moscow is silent”), not to mention, the collapse of the Soviet Union itself (“one of the greatest geopolitical catastrophes.”). To this day, he’s nursing his grudges, remembering the slights, the “traitors” past and present, real and imagined. Putin clearly relies on his intelligence services for information and advice of all kinds - the paradox of a man who values the lies and secrecy of Machiavellian espionage services and secret police over any truth or transparency.

Botton line, while Putin is a shrewd tactician and brutal authoritarian, he’s every bit as petty and corrupt as his friends/assets in the White House and elsewhere, even if he’s smarter than most of them (especially 45 - low fucking bar though!). He’s not at heart that powerful a leader; his foreign policy is often calculated based on what is perceived by the Kremlin to be politically popular WITHIN Russia. Translation: sticking it to the US, the UK, the EU, NATO, and the independent non-Russian countries that were formerly part of the Soviet Union.

Unfortunately, he’s figured out our country’s neuroses and pathologies and has learned how to play them accordingly (Not that we were hiding them - it doesn’t take a KGB officer to know the power of racism, sexism, and conspiracy theories, especially if uttered daily by a bloviating Reality TV star...).

Anyway, that’s basically my take on Vladimir Putin. Stream of consciousness, I know.

[Wounded Bear]

1. Like all terrorists, Putin engages in assymetrical warfare...

[roamer65]

2. A lot like Hitler.

Hitler stuck it to countries who signed the Treaty of Versailles. He knew it would shore up his support in Germany.

[Beakybird]

3. I agree with your read. He's one crafty and greedy corrupt motherfucker.

[moondust]

4. Connected to organized crime

in St. Petersburg. Three years ago Deutsche Welle did a revealing documentary on him and his background in St. Petersburg but I'm guessing somebody in Russia or the German government pressured them to bury it after it aired. There's still a web page for it but I haven't been able to find the video.

http://www.dw.com/en/moscows-long-shadow/a-36488978

I think it's possible that Putin may have used his intel agencies for years to gather kompromat on possibly many politicians and others. If so, Dump probably became a prime target long ago because he was a publicity hound, married Slavic women, had money and fame, was corrupt and often bankrupt and desperate. After some poking around Putin probably figured out that Republicans in general were easy targets because so many are greedy, selfish, unscrupulous morons. Perfect!

K/R

[ArtTownsend]

5. Good post, thanks. And thanks for the article link.