"Also, there is no need for a huge secret police network in a patriot-populist state, so that deeply unpopular institution has to be downsized or done away with."
I don't think you're arguing that if we don't engage in subterfuge, our enemies, domestic and/or foreign, won't either. But this does beg the question, what if they do?
Come to think of it, the whole realm of secret political operations, especially state vs private, is not a subject I've seen discussed in any depth. Even WITHIN secret organizations there are likely to be secret cabals, the simplest of which are like nested matryoshka (e.g., Masonic degrees). Too complicated for me; maybe you'll have better luck figuring out how a government, or any society, should manage this.
You have more foreign friends than you might think. I will be looking forward to your future writings on what we can do to help. There is no real hope here (USA) anymore, but interested to see what you have to say.
Were you serious in your recent story that portrayed the Russian secret service as a corrupted bunch of semi-criminal gangs? Why would a president who benefits from a long career in that branch of govt allow such corruption to occur on his watch? Whatever you think of the FSB/GRU, doesn't he need their expertise and loyalty, at least for now?
Was it Pacepa who wrote that in the Soviet Union political decisions depended on the balance of power between three main factions: the Army, the Party and the Secret Service?
In Russia, the successor state to the USSR, the Army is still there.
The Secret Service, that's where Putin comes from. Hard to see him renege on his own power base.
What about the Party? It probably became the robber oligarchs of the 90s who got rounded up and muzzled by Putin (the Secret Services) in his famous campaign against them just after he came to power.
So Putin is what the Secret Service acts like, when predominant over the other two actors.
The inner circle entirely made of long time friends. History repeats itself:
François Le Fort died in Moscow in early March 1699. Upon hearing the news of his death, Tsar Peter lamented "Now I am alone without one trusty man. He alone was faithful to me. Whom can I confide in now?"
"Also, there is no need for a huge secret police network in a patriot-populist state, so that deeply unpopular institution has to be downsized or done away with."
I don't think you're arguing that if we don't engage in subterfuge, our enemies, domestic and/or foreign, won't either. But this does beg the question, what if they do?
Come to think of it, the whole realm of secret political operations, especially state vs private, is not a subject I've seen discussed in any depth. Even WITHIN secret organizations there are likely to be secret cabals, the simplest of which are like nested matryoshka (e.g., Masonic degrees). Too complicated for me; maybe you'll have better luck figuring out how a government, or any society, should manage this.
You have more foreign friends than you might think. I will be looking forward to your future writings on what we can do to help. There is no real hope here (USA) anymore, but interested to see what you have to say.
Were you serious in your recent story that portrayed the Russian secret service as a corrupted bunch of semi-criminal gangs? Why would a president who benefits from a long career in that branch of govt allow such corruption to occur on his watch? Whatever you think of the FSB/GRU, doesn't he need their expertise and loyalty, at least for now?
>doesn't he need their expertise and loyalty, at least for now?
why did it take a war for them to do their jobs and start shutting down the people working to destroy Russia from within?
Was it Pacepa who wrote that in the Soviet Union political decisions depended on the balance of power between three main factions: the Army, the Party and the Secret Service?
In Russia, the successor state to the USSR, the Army is still there.
The Secret Service, that's where Putin comes from. Hard to see him renege on his own power base.
What about the Party? It probably became the robber oligarchs of the 90s who got rounded up and muzzled by Putin (the Secret Services) in his famous campaign against them just after he came to power.
So Putin is what the Secret Service acts like, when predominant over the other two actors.
Putin only trusts his Judo friends. His PA is run by blackbelts and fishing buddies.
Which is based.
The inner circle entirely made of long time friends. History repeats itself:
François Le Fort died in Moscow in early March 1699. Upon hearing the news of his death, Tsar Peter lamented "Now I am alone without one trusty man. He alone was faithful to me. Whom can I confide in now?"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fran%C3%A7ois_Le_Fort_(admiral)