--- On Tue, 8/12/08, dredmond at efn.org <dredmond at efn.org> wrote:
> From: dredmond at efn.org <dredmond at efn.org>
> Subject: Re: [lbo-talk] Putin's Petro-Imperialism
> To: lbo-talk at lbo-talk.org
> Date: Tuesday, August 12, 2008, 7:46 PM
> On Tue, August 12, 2008 3:34 pm, boddi satva wrote:
>
> > A thug like Putin is no foe of imperialism. He's a
> classic Russian
> > imperialist.
>
> Russia successfully defended thousands of its citizens in a
> limited,
> efficient and reasonably restrained peacekeeping operation,
> after a
> thuggish neighbor killed at least 1,500 of them in an
> outrageous act of
> mass murder. That is not imperialism, that is sanity.
>
> Also, Medvedev is in charge of the show. As Prime Minister,
> Putin handles
> the day-to-day stuff, because that's his forte -
> he'd be the first to
> acknowledge he's always been more of a firefighter than
> a strategist. But
> the Russian developmental state, a.k.a. Bearzilla, is
> evolving very, very
> fast, and I think Putin realized that Russia needed an
> overall strategist,
> someone to set long-term goals and priorities. It's
> remarkable how so many
> pundits and observers -- including Russian ones --
> consistently
> underestimate Medvedev. This is someone who ran Gazprom as
> well as the
> national projects, and passed the test with flying colors.
> What's
> happening now is the emergence of a more complex Russian
> civil society - a
> strong President and a capable legislative branch.
>
> -- DRR
>
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