04-23-2007, 08:18 PM | #1 |
Resident Jackass
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Roswell, New Mexico
Posts: 1,846
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Au revoir Boris
Boris Yeltsin just died. I for one will miss him, in no small part for his bumbling alcoholic persona that was best personified in my mind by he and Bubba Clinton having giggle fits at the White House. But beneath the exterior he was an important ally for the US, and he we may look back at him as a brief respite before the authoritarians took power in Russia.
Looking at Yeltsin makes it a good time to look at his time in power versus Putin's time. The comparison does not make Putin look good. Will this eventually turn back into something like the Cold War? |
04-23-2007, 08:26 PM | #2 |
Demiurge
Join Date: Aug 2005
Posts: 36,365
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One thing going against Russia in 2007 is the brain drain. The USSR could control emigration. Not so anymore.
It will descend into further corruption and authortarianism. The people that want better lives will leave. Much like Lousiana. |
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