When I became more interested in politics I eventually stumbled accross interviews of Vladimir Putin. I was surprised to see that he accepts interviews with American journalists, and that he answers every question clearly and politely --- unlike certain western figures. Being quite intelligent, during his long career he has accumulated a lot of knowledge. He is certainly very competent, so for me to automatically reject his viewpoints would be stupid and intelectually dishonest. I chose to listen to what he has to say, and it wasn't actually bs, but rather logical reasoning just from a perspective that wasn't American. I was compelled to rethink some of my own political and socioeconomic opinions. I wanted to share some of his viewpoints and hopefully spark some interesting discussions.
On interrnal problems of Russia:
- Democracy can't but be based on the traditions and customs of a nation. When the USA went into Afganistan they ignored the history and traditions of the people, and therefore their attempt at enforcing democracy failed miserably. The failure of USSR and the failure of American imperialism is that neither respects nor understood other people, opting instead to enforce their own values and interests. Russia will learn from USSR's mistakes.
- The development of the Russian economic, social and political spheres MUST be slow and steady as to prevent revolts and revolutions. Russia has had enough revolutions. The stability of the nation and living standard of the people must have first priority. When mass rallies in the west is met and destroyed by the police, it too is lack of freedom based on a preference for stability and order. Russia is a democracy, denying it is just a matter of how you define it. There are 32 political parties in Russia, and different departments are controlled by different parties. We know that corruption in Russia is a big problem, but it unfortunately is not unique. American lobbying, for example, is legalized corruption. Instead of pointing fingers everyone should focus on solving their problems; this is what we will be doing in Russia.
- Russia does have economic problems, but we do not print money like other countries. Our inflation is caused by being part of the world economy. We recognize the need to put much effort, focus and resources into the economy. We are also working hard to ensure that higher GDP translates into higher wages, this is a specific area of focus for the Russian administration.
Source: Interview on Russian internal status. Putin: Arms race is underway after US withdrawal from ABM treaty.
On the Russian international relations. Especially with America and its allies:
- American military excercises in Alaska, we don't care about them, its in their own territory, as such excercises should be. Russian military excercices happen regularly in the south, the east and the west, but only the war games in the west, near eastern Europe, has gotten western attention. We are viewed as aggressive despite containing our operations and infrastructure inside our own territory. Yet military infrastructure in addition to 40.000 military personell and 15.000 pieces of military equipment from Defender Europe is used in a military excercise at our southern borders, some was even airlifted there. How is Russia the aggresive one when we are the ones who keep our military excersices inside our borders?
- Gorbachov was promissed that NATO would not expand more towards the east. Interviewer: "where is that written down?" Putin: "Right, right. Well done, correct. You've got a point. They fooled him good". Everything should have been written down, but it wasn't. In fact, NATO has expanded, they have moved their military equipment close to our borders. America has also withdrawn from our treaties regulating the arms race, leading to both America and Russia accelerating the development of more and more advanced weapons. What was the point? And why is Russia the aggressive party? I have said it before and I will say it again, we are willing and eager to negotiate new treaties in order to again restrict and hopefully stop the new arms race of today.
- When it comes to economy, stability and predictability are the most important. Currency doesn't matter. America apperently does not value its currency. "it is used as an instrument against competition and political struggle. This, of course, is detrimental to the dollar as a global reserve currency" According to the world bank, among other things, settlements in dollars are shrinking. But we still prefer the dollar as an exchange currency. But we are also willing to use many other currencies for trade. We are ready to talk about transactions in Euro for gas trade, for example. Such monetary changes are acceptable to us. The way the world economy is developing, and the way America treats its currency, it is clear that multiple reserve currencies will be needed.
