thats odd putin dont during a summit in 2003 he told bush where to shove his ideologies :huh:

Hm, it's not that easy to say what will happen to Russia :hmm:
Until 2008, we'll continue that "strenghtening and centralisation". Oblasts' governors will be not elected by people, but appointed from Kremlin. Is it bad or good? Kremlin can sometime choose right people. But not alwas... Besides, Russians don't really trust in elections. First years of "democracy", when it was easy to buy votes and places, compomised the idea of free elections. Before Putin, reachest were winners. Now, "The Party" agressively moves in. It feels like soviet times... It's easy to manipulate Russian electorate. People haven't any expirience in democratic-type politics.
Who will come in 2008? I don't know. I think it will be sucessor of Putin. And everything will continue... Damn. No other parties is strong enough to lead the country.
This is politics.
In economics... Russian goverment, imo, make a great mistake now. We totally depend on oil prices. Today, it's high enough to create some economic growth. Some experts say that oil be no cheaper anymore - because world oil reserves running low. It can be good, but it's also bad: what shall we do when oil wells is dry? And anyway, strong economy is strong production and modern technologies. No real advance in heavy industry we can see. We have some techs and researchers from soviet times. But no real progress now... Damn again. Oil is not enough to build economy.
In socials... A great advance in big cities. "Middle class" is likely arises. But in countryside... Simply no advance from soviet times - is the best thing. In many places, there is degradation. Kolhoses were eliminated, many big factories closed, and people have nothing to do. Nothing except drinking... Alcoholism, imo, is the biggest trouble now.

So, the summary isn't bright. Though, Russians have great expirience in surviving...

Back to this Hodarkowsky thing. I've read parts from his 'work' - the Left Turn and Left Turn 2.

If you can read russian - read that. It's amazing. The guys is just taking a piss at the whole country and intelligence of anyone who can count. He's doing all this to position himself as a full alternative to Putin's 'team'.

What he's saying is he run Yukos successfully, therefore, he can run the country (as a company) with same success. Ha! you damn right ordinary people making 100 dollars a month spit in his direction.

Indeed too many people like to opine on Russia while naver having lived there and having imprressions on it from the following:

- Hollywood movies
- CNN / other western media
- Discovery Channel

I'm all for a dialogue and discussion, but it just pains me to debate when I see either a totally childish reply or one that's so biased it's not even funny.

Well we have established that many Russians accept the course the country is taking with Putin and his ex- KGB colleagues. Well, if that is what the majority wants.. :roll: What i would like to know is Russia going to start putting political and/or military pressure to its neigbours everytime they want something from them :-? The Russians have long tradition of gunboat diplomacy against its small neigbours. Or the worst case scenario, wanting to rebuild the Empire. These are ideas that are spoken by people in or close to Kreml. I think Finns would be stupid not to be concerned.

finland poland hungrey slovakia check rep. all the other bits inbetween should worry i think that is the eventual aim as putin said "the break up of the USSR was one that sadnd me and was a great disaster to our country"

That quote is yet another media spin that utterly pisses me off.

Because what it's been interpreted as in the west is really something quite different from what Putin meant. I'm willing to wager that the overwhelming majority of Russians will agree with that.

As far as Putin, I would argue that we don't really have an idea of what his/their long-term aims are. I'm sometimes skeptical as far as whether they even have them.

I don't want to beat a dead horse here, but...

A really good quote I found from a BBC article (about presidential candidate Kasianov, Putin's former PM). Very, very accurate:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4536206.stm

In the end, it all comes down to Maslow's pyramid.

Food
Safety
Sex
Comfort
Self-realization

Or something like that. I'm too drunk to remember correctly.

CCIP your spot on when putin said that what he was saying is "these gits flushed our country down the pan if we didnt spend so much on a load of crap we'd be ok now"

For one more time for the poor souls who live by what CNN says.

Putin said in RUSSIAN this: "The break up of the soviet union was one of the biggest geopolitical tragedies for our country. Millions of russian citizens were left in neighboring republics without status, without rights, and as 2nd rate citizens."

Stop misqouting that, as you sound like another blood thirsty CNN journo selling the news. I understand russian - Putin never said that it was a great saddness for him that USSR broke up in general. His point was that it caused so many problems for the NATIVE russian speaking population that are now treated like mexican imigrants in US in countries like Ukraine, Latvia, etc. It's a problem for former war veterans, who are now being offered 2 thousand Euros by the fascist Latvian government to leave Latvia for Russia. The lived in Latvia for all their life, and now given 2k Euros to pack all their sh*t and go 'home'. Don't ever tell me about democracy in EU. Bloody hyppocrats. They would be in such deep hole without Russia they don't even know it.

A lot of 'small countries' suffer a napoleonic complex, but strangely, not ALL. Just certain countries, the most nationalistic, bitter about the past, and can't get over themselves-ones. They are like kids in a zoo, who are very happy throw food and sh*t at the bear in a cage, because they feel they are safe outside (NATO analogy). I can't think of a better comparison that the likes of Poland and Ukraine are doing now. The goverments, before you start jumping at me, the governments.

Happy Times, Finland will be soon taking leading role in EU, correct? Last thing I've read is the want to take full advantage of being the bridge between CIVILIZED EU and Russia in all the trading boom, and with China growth slowing down a bit. I guess you are in a minority, and that's good I reckon, with your nationalistic attitudes. But I know for you it's personal, that's why I don't want to seriously debate it with you as you have your own valid reasons to hate or dislike russia.

thats what i was attempting to say roughly just not as in detail