TITLED, HOW TO READ VLADIMIR
PUTIN.
CARLOS, THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR
JOINING US, AND THANK YOU VERY
MUCH FOR DOING THE HOMEWORK AND
READING ALL OF THIS VLADIMIR
PUTIN FOR US, AND WHAT YOU HAVE
PRESENTED FROM IT HAS BEEN
COMPLETELY ENLIGHTENING TO ME,
EVERY LINE OF IT.
YOU MAKE THE POINT THAT
VLADIMIR PUTIN, IN HIS WRITING,
IS INCLUDING IN EFFECT, A
PRESENTATION OF PROPAGANDA, A
PRESENTATION OF THE WAY HE
WANTS TO BE SEEN. HOW DOES HE WANT TO BE SEEN?
HOW DOES HE WANT TO BE SEEN?
low blood sugar risk.
WELL, ONE THING HE IS FIXATED
ON AND HIS WRITINGS IS THE FEAR
OF RUSSIAN DECLINE.
IT'S SOMETHING THAT HE DENIES
AND HE LAMENTS ALL OF THE SAME
TIME.
AND ALL HIS RHETORIC AND
PROPAGANDA, IT'S ALL ABOUT LIFE
AND DEATH FOR RUSSIA.
SO HIS CONCERNS ABOUT NATO
EXPANSION AS PART OF THAT.
BUT REALLY, IT'S BEEN PART OF
HIS STORY FOR A LONG TIME.
JUST BEFORE HE TOOK OVER THE
PRESIDENCY IN LATE 1919 NINE,
HE PUBLISHED SOMETHING CALLED
HIS MILLENNIUM MESSAGE.
THIS LENGTHY MANIFESTO.
AND HIS BIG CONCERN AT THE TIME
WAS THAT RUSSIA WAS SLIDE INTO
SECOND OR THIRD TIER STATUS.
SO HE PROJECTS HIMSELF AS THE
MAN WHO CAN PREVENT THAT.
WHO CAN RESTORE RUSSIA TO THE
GREATNESS THAT HE THINKS WAS
ROBBED FROM IT AT THE END OF
THE COLD WAR.
>> YOU ALSO DESCRIBE HIS
HISTORY OF BEING NOT A GOOD
COMMUNICATOR, WHICH CONTINUES
TO THIS DAY IN SOME OF THESE
ROUNDING SPEECHES THAT HE IS
GIVEN.
YOU ARE RIGHT, ACCORDING TO
FIRST-PERSON, HIS KGB
INSTRUCTORS FOUND HIM WITH DON
AND TIGHTLIPPED, AND EVEN HIS
FORMER WIFE UNDERSTOOD HIM SO
POORLY THAT, WHEN HE WAS
PROPOSING MARRIAGE, SHE THOUGHT
HE WAS BREAKING THINGS OFF.
HOW DID SUCH A POOR
COMMUNICATOR GET CONTROL OF THE
RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT?
>> THAT'S A REALLY INTERESTING
STORY.
IT'S PART OF THE HISTORY OF
VLADIMIR PUTIN.
HE WASN'T CONSIDERED TO BE
NECESSARILY A BIG UP AND COMER
AFTER HE CAME BACK TO RUSSIA.
AFTER THE FALL OF THE WALL,
AFTER THE END OF THE COLD WAR.
HE HAD A NOT SUPER HIGH LEVEL
JOB WORKING IN THE MAYOR'S
OFFICE AND ST. PETERSBURG.
FOR THOSE ONE DETAIL THAT I
THINK IS VERY TELLING OF HOW HE
SEES HIMSELF.
HOW HE SAW HIMSELF EVEN AT THE
TIME.
ONE OF HIS COLLEAGUES, AND THIS
IS QUOTED IN THE BOOK,
FIRST-PERSON.
ONE OF HIS COLLEAGUES POINTED
OUT THAT, ALL THE PEOPLE
WORKING ON THOSE OFFICES HAD
THE PORTRAIT OF BORIS YELTSIN
ON THE WALL.
VLADIMIR PUTIN SPECIFICALLY
REQUESTED A PORTRAIT OF PETER
THE GREAT.
HE SORT OF LIKES TO THINK OF
HIMSELF AND THOSE VERY
GRANDIOSE TERMS.
HE'S CONSTANTLY TALKING AND HIS
WRITINGS ABOUT HIS SONS OF
HISTORICAL MISSION.
HE'S SOMEONE WHO IMAGINED THAT
THE RESTORATION OF A RUSSIAN
POWER WAS HIS MISSION AS A
FIGURE IN THE WORLD, AND OF
COURSE, THE END OF THE SOVIET
UNION WAS, IN HIS MIND, A GREAT
TRAGEDY.
>> SO, YOU ALSO KNOW THAT LAST
JULY, HE PUBLISHED AN ESSAY
WHERE HE SAID, WOULD HE HAS
SAID SINCE INVADING UKRAINE,
THAT ESSAY WAS TITLED, ON THE
HISTORICAL UNITY OF RUSSIANS
AND UKRAINIANS.
THE TWO NATIONS ARE REALLY ONE
PEOPLE, SHARING A FAITH CULTURE
AND LANGUAGE, HE ASSERTS, AND
MODERN UKRAINE AS LITTLE MORE
THAN A CREATION OF THE SOVIET
ERA.
THAT IS ALMOST WORD FOR WORD
WHAT HE SAID AFTER INVADING
UKRAINE.
>> YES, YOU SEE A LOT OF ECHOES
AND HIS WRITING.
CLEARLY, THE STATUS OF UKRAINE
AS SOMETHING THAT HE'S BEEN
FIXATED ON FOR A LONG TIME.
HE SEES THEM AS A REALLY ONE
NATION, ONE LANGUAGE, ONE
CULTURE.
CLEARLY, THE CRANIUM'S DON'T
SEE IT THIS WAY.
BUT HE ALSO SEES THIS AS A WAY
OF REALLY RESTORING THE LOSSES
AT THE END OF THE COLD WAR.
ONE OF THE THINGS THAT HE TALKS
ABOUT AND AS WRITINGS IS THAT
THESE THINGS WERE JUST TAKEN
AWAY FROM THE SOVIET REPUBLICAN
PARTY, AND WE'RE TAKING AWAY
FROM THEIR SORT MOTHERLAND.
HE TALKS A BIT MORE AS A
REUNIFICATION AND AN INVASION,
ALMOST AS IF HE'S TAKING BACK
WHAT WAS UNLAWFULLY
DISPOSSESSED.
>> AND, HE TALKS ABOUT MEMORIES
OF CHILDHOOD OF DEALING WITH
BELIZE AND OTHER THINGS THAT
GIVE US --
AND HE DOES IT IN A PRESENT
TONS, IN WAYS THAT GIVES YOU
THE FEELING THAT THIS IS HIS
WAY AS A STRATEGIST.
>> YES, HE TALKS ABOUT WHEN HE
WAS IN SCHOOL.
AT THE SAME TIME THAT HE BRAGS
ABOUT HIS HIGH SCHOOL GRADES,
WHICH SEEMS LIKE A WEIRD THING
FOR ANY ADULT TO DO, LET ALONE,
SOMEONE LIKE HIM.
HE TALKS ABOUT HOW HE LIKED TO
BE THE UNSPOKEN LEADER.
THAT'S WHEN HE FELT COMFORTABLE
AND SCHOOL.
AND EVEN AS HE DID WELL IN HIS
CLASSES, HE WAS A BAD BOY.
HE WAS A HOOLIGAN.
THAT'S HOW HE LIKES TO PRESENT
HIMSELF.
THERE'S ALSO A MOMENT IN FIRST
PERSON IN THE BOOK THAT WAS
PUBLISHED IN 2000 WHERE ONE OF
HIS FORMER KGB OFFICERS AND
INSTRUCTORS IS QUOTED.
AND IN THE BOOK, THEY SAID THAT
HE HAD A LOWERED SENSE OF
DANGER.
AND THAT WAS ON THOUGHT OF AS A
GOOD THING.
THEY FELT THAT A KGB OFFICER
NEEDED TO HAVE A VERY
HEIGHTENED SONS OF RISK.
BUT AT LEAST, PUTIN LIKES TO
PRESENT HIMSELF AS SOMEONE THAT
DOESN'T FEAR RISK.
THAT IS NOT EASILY DETERRED.
OBVIOUSLY, A LOT OF THESE
THINGS, EVEN PROPAGANDA IS
REVEALING IN THE SENSE THAT IT
SHOWS YOU HOW SOMEONE WANTS TO
BE PERCEIVED.
AND I THINK THAT'S HOW PUTIN
WANTS TO BE PERCEIVED WHEN IT
COMES TO WARTIME.
HE DISCUSSES THE CRACKDOWN IN
CHECHNYA IN THE LATE 90S AND
SAYS, REALLY, HIS ATTITUDE
TOWARDS RUSSIA'S AND EMMYS WAS,
IF YOU BECOME JITTERY, YOUR
ENEMIES WILL THINK THEY ARE
STRONGER.
AND THE ONLY THING THAT WORKS
IN THOSE CIRCUMSTANCES IS TO GO
ON THE OFFENSIVE.
HE WRITES THAT YOU HAVE TO HIT
FIRST AND HIT SO HARD THAT YOUR
OPPONENT WILL NOT BE ABLE TO
RISE TO HIS FEET.