Tom Warwick Editor’s Note: This is the final installation in an ongoing series exploring the creation of “Putin’s Russia” and its place in the international community. Click here to read the preceding entries. “I would be warned against using a … Continue reading There is a Bear in the Woods: Resets and Returns 2009-2016
The relationship between Putin’s Russia and the West has been a series of ups and downs, resets and regrets. While it has become rather cliche to use Prime Minister Winston Churchill’s quote about puzzles wrapped in enigmas, the lesser known half of this observation remains true today. As one navigates first through the relationship between Putin and the Bush Administration and, in the next series installation, the relationship between Putin and the Obama Administration one thing remains constant: the key to this puzzle is still Russian national interest. It is that national interest that has dominated Russia’s relationship with the West throughout the last two decades. Continue reading There is a Bear in the Woods: A Common Cause 2000-2008
As Putin stood in his Kremlin office in the winter of 2000 he faced a Russia close to anarchy and teetering on the edge of collapse. The optimism of the past decade had collapsed along with the policies of the Yeltsin administration and the hope of a democratic Russia seemed further away than ever. Putin would respond to this crisis in a way that put his distrust, and quite frankly his disgust, for an open system fully on display. In just over a decade, Putin would replace the ‘wild west’ style of the Yeltsin years with a tightly controlled system of “vertical power.” By consolidating power and persecuting his enemies, Vladimir Putin would elevate himself into the position of a 21st Century Czar and truly turn his country into “Putin’s Russia.” Continue reading There is Bear in the Woods: Putin’s Russia
Putin’s rise to power was a quick as it was unexpected. In less than a decade, Putin managed to move from a position of a faceless government bureaucrat to the President of Russia. While at first glance this remarkable rise to power could be seen as chance or good luck, it was the result of meticulous planning and cold political calculations. Continue reading There is a Bear in the Woods: Enter Putin
On Christmas Day 1991, the eighth and final leader of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev, resigned, declared his office extinct, and handed over all power to the Russian President. At 7:32pm, the Soviet Hammer and Sickle that flew over the Kremlin was lowered and replaced with the Russian tricolor. Overnight the world’s oldest, largest, and most powerful Communist state had ceased to exist. The future of this wayward state was now in the hands of Boris Yeltsin. Continue reading There is a Bear in the Woods: False Starts
In keeping with the mission of FBB to provide well researched informative material, We are happy to announce that we will be publishing a suite of articles outlining the history of Russia since the end of the Cold War and providing an analysis of their supposed motives and long term foreign policy goals. Continue reading Bear in the Woods: Series Announcement
Pulling out a war story in an attempt to convey that all is not lost probably seems cliche and worn out. However, the underlying message stands. 2016 was a pretty bad year, and the challenges we faced are not going to magically disappear when the clock strikes midnight on New Year’s Eve. Continue reading A Finest Bagels Christmas Message
