Putin’s not subtle. But maybe he had better watch his back. One of the great things about liberal and representative democracy is that the nation featuring it can change its government without having to go through a civil war.
Which is not to say that there still aren’t wannabees who want to try themselves out as autocrats (One Donald Drumpf springs to mind.) It is just that they are limited by historical tradition, folk memory, and for what it’s worth, law. The eyes of the world are now on Navalny; and on Putin. That limits Vlad Dracula’s I mean Joe Stalin’s I mean Vlad Putin’s freedom of movement . He is constrained.
Navalny’s move is very reminiscent of Lenin’s return to Tsarist Russia from his western exile in 1917. Maybe Putin should borrow a copy of John Reed’s classic Ten Days that Shook the World. from the Kremlin library. He might see certain parallels between Navalny and Lenin.
I wonder, Omar, whether the eyes of the world really are on Navalny & Putin. And even if they are, whether it will mean very much. The USA is now bound up with the aftermath of Trump’s disastrous reign, the UK with Brexit & Covid, the EU tends always to sit cautiously on the sidelines, as we saw when Muslims were being murdered and raped in Bosnia and it was the US who finlly decided that enough was enough. Putin has got away with murder on a number of occasions. There is small reason why he should not get away with it again, unless within Russia there are a sufficient number of people to form a power that will seek to hold him to account. I very much fear for Navalny.
Putin’s not subtle. But maybe he had better watch his back. One of the great things about liberal and representative democracy is that the nation featuring it can change its government without having to go through a civil war.
Which is not to say that there still aren’t wannabees who want to try themselves out as autocrats (One Donald Drumpf springs to mind.) It is just that they are limited by historical tradition, folk memory, and for what it’s worth, law. The eyes of the world are now on Navalny; and on Putin. That limits Vlad Dracula’s I mean Joe Stalin’s I mean Vlad Putin’s freedom of movement . He is constrained.
Navalny’s move is very reminiscent of Lenin’s return to Tsarist Russia from his western exile in 1917. Maybe Putin should borrow a copy of John Reed’s classic Ten Days that Shook the World. from the Kremlin library. He might see certain parallels between Navalny and Lenin.
.
https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2019/04/16/on-this-day-vladimir-lenin-arrives-in-st-petersburg-triggering-the-october-revolution-a65247
Also posted on http://www.butterfliesandwheels.org/2021/whereabouts-unknown/ . Maybe Putin will read it there. I don’t double up comments this way as a rule, but Putin’s education is important.
I wonder, Omar, whether the eyes of the world really are on Navalny & Putin. And even if they are, whether it will mean very much. The USA is now bound up with the aftermath of Trump’s disastrous reign, the UK with Brexit & Covid, the EU tends always to sit cautiously on the sidelines, as we saw when Muslims were being murdered and raped in Bosnia and it was the US who finlly decided that enough was enough. Putin has got away with murder on a number of occasions. There is small reason why he should not get away with it again, unless within Russia there are a sufficient number of people to form a power that will seek to hold him to account. I very much fear for Navalny.
Ed. note: I added that [not]; let me know if it’s not what you meant.
Yes, thank you very much, Ophelia!
Brackets removed!