The Medvedev contention is just silly.
On Tue, Aug 12, 2008 at 4:46 PM, <dredmond at efn.org> wrote:
> 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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