Transcript of speech and follow-up questions The transcript of Putin’s comments is quite long, but I think it makes for an interesting read - certainly more interesting than the typical speech by any U.S. politician on either side of the aisle. Perhaps it is the privilege of being someone who has such illiberal, tight control as to not worry about the upcoming election cycle that gives him the ability to appear to speak in a more direct manner with a strong appeal to history. Putin seems to see the world order at an inflection point - that we are drifting from the post-Cold War unipolar world where international controls, state sovereignty and economic well-being only matters for as far as the United States agrees to a multi-polar world that lacks sufficient controls to prevent increasing negative events. He believes that we are already entering a multipolar world where economic interests and sovereignty trump any one power. He frames the actions of the United States and its allies in Iraq, Iran, Syria, and Ukraine as a threat to economic development. He makes a direct appeal to China among other developing powers: The solution he proposes is a more robust international apparatus to reign in the fragmented, dangerous poly-centric world that he sees.
A speech sprinkled with lies breathtaking in their scope. Russia, AKA Putin, portrays herself as a democratic "nuclear superpower" suffering from the attentions of the United States and her allies. "Colleagues, this period of unipolar domination has convincingly demonstrated that having only one power centre does not make global processes more manageable. On the contrary, this kind of unstable construction has shown its inability to fight the real threats such as regional conflicts, terrorism, drug trafficking, religious fanaticism, chauvinism and neo-Nazism." Of course we get to hear "neo-Nazism," Putin's so-called "excuse" for invading Ukraine and taking from her the Crimea, as well as his "excuse" for first encouraging and supporting separatists, part of a Russian speaking minority in the east and southeast of Ukraine, and then openly invading that part of Ukraine when the Russian supported separatists appeared on the verge of defeat. "Maybe the United States’ exceptional position and the way they are carrying out their leadership really is a blessing for us all, and their meddling in events all around the world is bringing peace, prosperity, progress, growth and democracy, and we should maybe just relax and enjoy it all? Let me say that this is not the case, absolutely not the case." Putin is jealous of the position of the United States in the world. What a surprise! As the oligarchic dictator of Russia, Putin is on the receiving end of sanctions from the United States and her allies for his meddling in events in other countries. Of course he isn't enjoying the consequences of his own actions. And of course he ignores the condemnation of Russia's actions in Ukraine from countries outside of NATO because that doesn't jive with the "explanation" he's giving for the troubles Russia is currently experiencing as a result of the invasion and annexation of parts of Ukraine. A unilateral diktat and imposing one’s own models produces the opposite result. Instead of settling conflicts it leads to their escalation, instead of sovereign and stable states we see the growing spread of chaos, and instead of democracy there is support for a very dubious public ranging from open neo-fascists to Islamic radicals." And here is the ultimate absurdity of Putin's speech. Accusing the United States of doing what Russia, under Putin's diktat, is in fact doing right now. Invading a sovereign state, creating instablity, creating chaos, and encouraging radicals using violence for their own ends. "Essentially, the unipolar world is simply a means of justifying dictatorship over people and countries. The unipolar world turned out too uncomfortable, heavy and unmanageable a burden even for the self-proclaimed leader. Comments along this line were made here just before and I fully agree with this. This is why we see attempts at this new historic stage to recreate a semblance of a quasi-bipolar world as a convenient model for perpetuating American leadership. It does not matter who takes the place of the centre of evil in American propaganda, the USSR’s old place as the main adversary. It could be Iran, as a country seeking to acquire nuclear technology, China, as the world’s biggest economy, or Russia, as a nuclear superpower." This statement is simply bizarre. No comment necessary.
What gives the U.S. the right to act one way . ... but be upset when other countries act similarly? Rocket River
Ahhh Vlad.... Your weak economy continues to get worse, so blame the boogie man as usual for your own inability to construct a sustainable economy.
That's a message that works for politicians all over the developing world, regardless of the hypocrisy of the speaker. Putin is moving Russia closer to China in an attempt to reshuffle the geopolitical deck and present a foil to American hegemony. Everyone knows he's a hypocritical authoritarian, but his criticisms of the West in general and the US in particular resonate in the developing world. He knows they help keep Russia relevant on the world stage and himself relevant to his own base that is starting to get tired of him.
Reading the Times piece you linked to, I'm wondering what exactly "rehabilitating Nazism" constitutes.
He obviously has an agenda. First, I did not really think he made any serious claims that Russia was democratic or at least I can point to nothing in his remarks that would make me think he cares about portraying Russia that way. The only time he mentions human rights is to say that what is most important is actually "respect for one’s partners and their interests." Second, yes, Russia is suffering from sanctions put on it by the United States and its allies. Putin would have us believe that Russia is going to successfully continue on despite these sanctions by turning to other countries like China. He also makes an appeal to end the sanctions against his country invoking the right to free trade and global business - this tells me that he feels like either sanctions are hurting his country or he believes that the sanctions make the United States and its allies look bad to non-allies who are focused on development like China. I don't really think that he portrays his country as a superpower; in fact, he seems to be envisaging a poly-centric world where the needs of superpowers take a back seat to economic considerations. What I found interesting was not the barbs at the United States or the puffery of Russia's own place in the world as that is to be expected from Putin, but what he had to say about how he saw the future distribution of power, the need for revitalization of cooperative solutions for world governance and appeals to China and other emerging economic powerhouses. Do you think he is correct in portraying this new century as poly-centric and what do you make of his solutions to global interactions in this poly-centric world?
