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Sunday, December 23, 2007

Three Notes of Vladimir Putin


When I was young, I often listened to the Moscow Radio, which was launched around 10:00 - 10:30 PM of Burma’s local time, as far as I remember. Almost every day, we read in newspapers and international news journals, at least a piece of news about Soviet Union and its power spreading. At that time, Burma was a socialist country and we have heard that Rangoon Institute Technology (RIT) was established and constructed through the Russian’s aid. (I don’t know exactly how much it was correct or not, since everything about government was / is top secret in Burma.)

During 1991, we all have frequently read the breaking news about instability of the Soviet Union and briefly, President Mikhail Gorbachev resigned, the cold war ended and the superpower union was collapsed in that year. After that, as far as I notice, Russia became a notorious country with its corruption crises, debts, gamblers, drinkers, gangs, prostitutes, etc.

After passing her hard years, Russia occurred as a new Russia under a man’s strong and middle path leadership (I mean neither east nor west, but by the median). I have seen this man’s photo in a news story of Bangkok Post when he was playing Judo with skill and activeness in Japan while he visited there. Russian President Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, former high ranking officer of KGB is selected as Person of the Year by Time magazine for 2007, given the title for his "extraordinary feat of leadership in taking a country that was in chaos and bringing it stability.”

I would like to share three things here about Putin. I take all these notes from Time magazine of December 31, 2007 / January 7, 2008.

First Note:

It is interesting that he get a Report Card with grading information, just like a student. Look at his report card as below;

STABILITY (Grade A)
The post-Soviet chaos is a fading memory. Central authority is stronger than it has been in decades.

Security (Grade C)
He’s cracked dawn hard in Chechnya, but other rebellions persist. Crime is a huge problem in the cities.

Democracy (Grade D)
Um, what democracy? Elections are a sham, and the media are muzzled.

Economy (Grade B+)
Rising oil prices have put more rubles in Russian pockets. But inflation is a serious problem.

Foreign Policy (Grade B)
Russia is more forceful globally, but relations with the U.S. are testy.

Second Note:

Dear Leader
A member of the Moscow based V V Fan Club, named for President Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin. The group, founded by college students, sees him as the ideal man: clean-living, strong, brave.

Third Note:

Four interesting Q&As: from excerpts of Time’s interview with Putin

Q: What role does faith play in your leadership?
A: First and foremost, we should be governed by common sense. But common sense should be based on moral principles first. And it is not possible today to have morality separated from religious values.

Q: You must feel lucky that the price of oil is high.
A: Fools are lucky. We work day and night!

Q: Has your KGB training helped you as President? There’s an old saying “Once a spy, always a spy.”
A: Well, those are lies. Naturally, some of that background can be of help. They taught me to think independently. They taught me to gather objective information, first and foremost. The second thing, from working in intelligence, is learning the skill of working with people. Above all, to respect the people you’re dealing with.

Q: Do you use e-mail? Do you blog?
A: Well, it’s a big shame. I don’t use these technologies. I don’t even use a telephone. My staff do it for me. But they do it wonderfully.



Source:
Time Magazine, December 31, 2007 / January 7, 2008
http://www.wikipedia.org/

Picture: http://images.theglobeandmail.com/archives/RTGAM/images/20070602/wputin01/putin_500big.jpg

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