Russian opposition awakens

Tactical Frog

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After years of hibernation the russian opposition to President Putin is finally awakening. Several hundreds people were arrested in Moscow, including leading opponent Alexei Navalny.

Is "russian spring" coming ?


 

Bornubus

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Time to barrel bomb them like his friend Asad or banish them to Gulags like Soviet dictators.
 

dhananjay1

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The west is desperate to see "opposition" to Putin. The media like BBC, CNN and their Arab lackey Al Jazeera greatly exaggerate any protest in Russsia and try to turn protesters into some sort of freedom fighters. As Russia is going through a severe economic crises, there are bound to be reactions from public. But it would be naive to believe the western media on extent and degree of these demonstrations.
 

Tactical Frog

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The west is desperate to see "opposition" to Putin. The media like BBC, CNN and their Arab lackey Al Jazeera greatly exaggerate any protest in Russsia and try to turn protesters into some sort of freedom fighters. As Russia is going through a severe economic crises, there are bound to be reactions from public. But it would be naive to believe the western media on extent and degree of these demonstrations.
In the West opposition leaders don't get 15 days jail-time and a fine for organizing protests. A major reason for why such protests are always a big surprise in Russia.

Belarus leader Lukashenko is under pressure too. Probably you won't get mention of this on Ruptly TV.
 

Akim

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These protests are directly proportional to the reduction of the Reserve Fund of Russia. Now there are protests of truckers. It passes in passive mode. But more massive protests will likely be in the middle of autumn, when the season of holidays and summer cottages (а dacha), will finished.
 

Akim

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Manas (Dagestan). The Russian National Guard blocked the truckers, does not allow them to make a protest auto rally.
 

Tactical Frog

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"Russian opposition awakens" :
Who were they sleeping with???
:wink:
Good one ;-)
You know this is "an eye for an eye , a tooth for a tooth"... Putin backs pro-russian parties and pro-russian personalities in every european country. Europe and US back pro-Western Russian NGOs and opponents. I just don't know if Trump is still with Europe or if he is with Russia ?
 

Razor

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Good one ;-)
You know this is "an eye for an eye , a tooth for a tooth"... Putin backs pro-russian parties and pro-russian personalities in every european country. Europe and US back pro-Western Russian NGOs and opponents. I just don't know if Trump is still with Europe or if he is with Russia ?
I can agree with your rationale (eye/tooth)

As for Trump I think you guys in Europe better forget him, he seems lost.
Europe has vast potential IF it is united and IF that unity functions properly. Proper policy makers are needed for EU.

Agreed that Europeans would feel uneasy with such mass migrations from foreign lands. But I think the US has a hand in this (i.e. mass migration) apart from being the cause of the mess: continuous warfare in MENA.
I have heard that some of the groups trafficking people/refugees into europe has US hidden hand behind them.
The US knows that mass migrations (as opposed to small scale migrations) will trigger certain feelings in the natives of europe, and lead to rise of Le pen, funny hair guy from holland (forgot his name) and likes, which will be death knell for european unification. And hence the problem (from US perspective) of european domination of trade/influence in the world would be eliminated.
 

aditya10r

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Few days back i was watching the ARCTIC debate...........
One thing i noticed was the non-russian media and the politicians interfere a lot in internal matters of russia
 

Tactical Frog

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Few days back i was watching the ARCTIC debate...........
One thing i noticed was the non-russian media and the politicians interfere a lot in internal matters of russia
Hmm. Well as far as Arctic is concerned, the world should be concerned ! And it is not about polar bears only ;)
 

Akim

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A tsar away!:)
.......................................
 

nongaddarliberal

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From my conversations with Russians my age in Moscow, the sentiment against Putin is widespread. The Russian economy is doing very badly, and is much worse off that what the Russian media reports. When you hear about the corruption there, especially with the police and low level government workers, you would think they're describing Bihar.

The anger is against the Russian elites who do not want the economy to modernize, as it would break their monopolies. Putin is merely the face of this elite.

I'm not denying that these protests might have a western hand behind them, but the sentiment and frustration against the elite on the street is very real. Remember, Russia now has a smaller nominal GDP than Italy, even with all the oil money. And the cost of living is not as lower as people might think compared to the west.

Overall, I think we should have a balanced view of Putin. His foreign policy is excellent, but his domestic policies leave much to be desired.
 

Razor

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From my conversations with Russians my age in Moscow, the sentiment against Putin is widespread. The Russian economy is doing very badly, and is much worse off that what the Russian media reports. When you hear about the corruption there, especially with the police and low level government workers, you would think they're describing Bihar.

The anger is against the Russian elites who do not want the economy to modernize, as it would break their monopolies. Putin is merely the face of this elite.

I'm not denying that these protests might have a western hand behind them, but the sentiment and frustration against the elite on the street is very real. Remember, Russia now has a smaller nominal GDP than Italy, even with all the oil money. And the cost of living is not as lower as people might think compared to the west.

Overall, I think we should have a balanced view of Putin. His foreign policy is excellent, but his domestic policies leave much to be desired.
Is there a country where your average college students are not "rebels"

Also what do you mean by "modernize" in the sentence "Russian elites who do not want the economy to modernize"?
You mean Russian economy is not modern and industrialized? :lol:
Here modernize is a code word for giving control to Western entities. :truestory:

Russian is under sanctions from their major trading partners (euros) so their nominal (note: nominal, not PPP-adjusted) economy has declined. And the oil glut (hint: american-saudi plan) has dropped the oil prices, so what do you mean by "all the oil money"? :confused: They are trying to re-align their economy with asia, specifically China. Not sure how successful this will be though.

At the moment there is no other capable and popular leader in Russia, who is not a Western stooge. This is why putin works for russia and russians.
 

nongaddarliberal

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The Russian economy is deeply flawed structurally. The biggest firms are state funded and have a monopoly. Entrepreneurship is minimal in Russia. Their tender processes are similar to our 2G scam, but no one bothers.

Even with all their scientific expertise, they have a minimal presence in the consumer goods industry. Their flawed system prevents their technical knowledge from turning into economic gain, as there will never be a Russian Volkswagen, or Microsoft, or even Tata for that matter. This is the reason why, as you mentioned, they're placing their bets on tying up with China. (We know how that'll work out).

They also have a huge divestment problem, where the rich take their wealth and invest it in the west, as there is hardly anything to invest in in Russia except oil. Their pensions and salaries are also falling hard.

Overall the Russian economy is still fundamentally reliant on oil and gas. At this point, they're a Saudi Arabia who can make fighter planes. Contrast this with a country like Poland, which has modernized its economy and has already overtaken Russia in terms of per capita income and standard of living. Let us not even begin comparing the Russian economy to that of Germany.
 

Razor

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The Russian economy is deeply flawed structurally. The biggest firms are state funded and have a monopoly. Entrepreneurship is minimal in Russia. Their tender processes are similar to our 2G scam, but no one bothers.

Even with all their scientific expertise, they have a minimal presence in the consumer goods industry. Their flawed system prevents their technical knowledge from turning into economic gain, as there will never be a Russian Volkswagen, or Microsoft, or even Tata for that matter. This is the reason why, as you mentioned, they're placing their bets on tying up with China. (We know how that'll work out).

They also have a huge divestment problem, where the rich take their wealth and invest it in the west, as there is hardly anything to invest in in Russia except oil. Their pensions and salaries are also falling hard.

Overall the Russian economy is still fundamentally reliant on oil and gas. At this point, they're a Saudi Arabia who can make fighter planes. Contrast this with a country like Poland, which has modernized its economy and has already overtaken Russia in terms of per capita income and standard of living. Let us not even begin comparing the Russian economy to that of Germany.
It is not "deeply flawed structurally" but was structured based on conditions of 80s and 90s. It can not be changed overnight as it would have disastrous consequences for Russia. Similar to what happened in the 90s.
The priority in late 90s and 2000s was raising the standard of living and to prevent population export. The strategies adopted for that by Putin are beginning to show fruit to varying degrees. Next on the agenda is restructuring the economy away from oil and gas. And the sanctions in fact help.
The West has tried to play one small trick recently (among the countless others)
The have asked their puppy Saudi's to agree to fixing production so oil prices can rise. This is so Russia's budget gets hooked to the oil, in these crucial years.
But be warned in the near future saudi (at the command of their masters, USA) will flood the markets with oil. They did this before using the Saudi's, on the Soviet Union. Hope Russians haven't forgotten past.

Anyway tagging @pmaitra and @gadeshi also for more info, if any.

PS: Comparing POoland and Russia or Germany and Russia is like comparing apples and oranges. Each countries or rather each "blocs" function differently.

Remember USA sanctioned India too in the past, and it hurt us then but now we are a different story altogether.
 

Bahamut

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The Russian economy is deeply flawed structurally. The biggest firms are state funded and have a monopoly. Entrepreneurship is minimal in Russia.
They are already changing this
http://www.doingbusiness.org/data/exploreeconomies/russia
https://www.google.co.in/amp/mobile.reuters.com/article/amp/idUSKCN12P29F
http://www.worldbank.org/en/country/russia/brief/doing-business-russia

Overall the Russian economy is still fundamentally reliant on oil and gas. At this point, they're a Saudi Arabia who can make fighter planes. Contrast this with a country like Poland, which has modernized its economy and has already overtaken Russia in terms of per capita income and standard of living.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=tICL-lwI7KM
 

Flame Thrower

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You all may be right; based on my understanding of Russian history or SU history, until and unless I see any credible news of up coming leader, I don't believe any opposition exists in Russia/China/NK or for the matter any one party rule countries.

I could be wrong too....
 

Bahamut

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Their flawed system prevents their technical knowledge from turning into economic gain, as there will never be a Russian Volkswagen, or Microsoft, or even Tata for that matter.
Kaspersky, 7zip, prima lab they all are Russian company. There Market is not India except for software. They main problem in Russia is credit and government is trying to solve it by provide low interest credit and providing startup escalator, but it will take time . plus credit it limited for a few sector like ai, nanotech, pharmaceutical, robotics, oil and gas, solar etc.
 

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