Bharat Rakshak

Yes...and supplying us with nuclear subs, assissting our SSBN programme, Brahmos, S-400s etc. A good thing the GOI values the relationship at the highest level.

Coming back to doping.The Ru sports authority paid for its sins at the last Olympics. The incarceration of its athletes continues without a fair hesring being given.Sadly international politics has taken over the Intl. athletic federation, etc. Catch a western nation whose athletes have been caught being given blanket bans.

Don’t forget how Serena Williams was let off the hook while Sharapov was not let off the hook even though it was well documented that she was taking the same medication for the last fifteen years due to a heart condition which pretty much similar to Serena’s circumstances.

This is big news, isn't it? Russia is overhauling its government system (or is it?) with Parliament getting MORE power?

Then again...

Shortly afterwards, Putin named Medvedev’s successor as prime minister, Mikhail Mishustin, the relatively little-known head of the Federal Tax Service, saying his candidacy had been sent to parliament for approval. Mishustin, 53, is not thought of as a major power broker or a member of Putin's inner circle, although as head of the tax agency he has been praised for overhauling Russia's backward tax collection system, introducing data technologies that have made it one of the most advanced in the world.

President is KGB, Prime Minister is IRS. Can a sweeter combo be imagined?

So new PM knows the tax kundali of all the politicians.

Russia morphing from a failed communist to a totalitarian and now a gestapo state.

Has anyone seen the points that Putin wants to make changes on?

More power to parliament.
Presidential powers generally subordinate to parliament.The Pres. will be more ceremonial as it was in the USSR.
Pres. term to be limited to two tems.
There is some council which will oversee certain aspects of admin.
No term limit for the PM, Putin or anyone else as in a parliamentary democracy can become PM as he did before any number of times.

George Bush Sr. was the CIA head don't forget, no one called the US a totalitarian state then.As for nepotism,his son Dubya also became pres. in a controversial election ( remember the Florida rigged vote?).Both invaded Iraq- at least Sr.B got UN sanction for it, son planned it before the election and with poodle B.Liar,
bulsh* tted the world about Saddam's non-existant WMDs,invaded,stole antiquities,tortured, raped and murdered prisoners at Abu Ghraib,stole billions worth of Iraqi oil and affected the lives of millions of ordinary civilians,hundreds of thousands killed ( estimates between 450,000 to 650,000) and hanged Saddam thanks to a kangaroo court. The same game was played in Syria using ISIS, but Putin stepped in and the ugodly jihadis are either on the run or exterminated like vermin.Oh! I forgot about the Libyan invasion and murder of Gadhaffi.Here too its Putin doin' the firefighting.

The US is still stuck in Iraq,and in AFG., wanting to hand over the country yet again to the despotic and mediaeval Taliban and ISI,turning a blind eye yet again to perfidious Pak and its terror activities.A good friend to have!

It seems to me that at least on BR, the prevailing sentiment is screw Russia; India is now Team America all the way.

Is this because we genuinely believe the US will prove a better ally, or is it because we're so scared of the US that we dare not defy them?

Its my personal opinion for some time now that India (its managers) do not have the self-confidence to guts it out of a situation and create a favourable situation for itself. And by 'situation' I mean a geo-strategic situation which requires India to take leadership without help of powers that be. That is what a China has done. It had persevered and built up its various industries through espionage, photocopy and takeover and though it does not take bold geo-strategic decisions today, they are increasingly on better placed footing to do so of they so want. We on other hand need superpowers or somebody to handhold.

So great strategic decisions are made in Indian politics is 'whose hand will we hold now' ? One group will favour Russia and another group will favour USA. And that is where the limit ends. India is not a confident power yet. Maybe it is because we have too many internal faultlines that people do not express innate faith in the leader.

Infact this is where our colonial past makes itself evident, a significant minority of Indians were deeply allied with the colonial or invading powers. So there is a comfort zone to occupy in India where the Indian ruler is always suspect and the foreign invader is trusted. These are colonial vestiges, will take time to rub off. We will take a while to get there. Just my two cents, pls nobody take offence.

^ Except for nukes, India is still very dependent on advanced weaponry to be imported. And energy to be imported. Not true in cases of US, Russia, cheen or, to admit with grudging respect, France. So some time and distance to cover b4 going it alone. This is why when ppl biss in the neighborhood they don't undie-shudder:

Bbbut... what will the INDIANS do if we do that?

Not even SL and BD have real need to be afraid. Can't say the same about neighbors of the others. OK, in France case the main fear is:

What will WE do if they suddenly surrender to us?

I don't think that we are jumping totally into the US camp,but incrementally, by stealthy agreements, the US is cornering our independent and sovereign right of action regardless of any external power's pressure tactics. We have several critical programmes with Russia in the military sphere,plus we're now looking for oil from Russia instead of the tension- riddled Gulf and ME. The Vladivostok- Chennai maritime route is one to be exploited,closer than oil from the US too. We cannot be " all things to all powers". The famous saying is that no man can serve two masters. Indian interests should come first and in the pecking order of friendship,we should stand by those who've been most loyal and helpful to us in the past and present as well.We are not a Puerto Rico or S.Am tinpot banana republic to be threatened with sanctions.Instead of telling the US " bugger off" ,we've cringed and crawled,pleading for mercy! That's not the behaviour of the largest democracy in the world, an N-weapons power to boot too.Even non- nuclear NATO member Turkey has defied the US over Ru S- 400 sales. It hasn't cringed and begged like we've done.

Let's look back at US sanctions after P-2. Mad Half- bright said we " shot ourselves in the foot", pressured a drunken Yeltsin to halt cryo- engines for our space programme apart from sabotaging the LCA programme,etc. But with canny help from Ru, we developed over time our indigenous versions and showed the US the little finger.Great play by ABV. That is the attitude and firmness of resolve that we must display,as we are far stronger both militarily and economically than 2 decades ago. We should keep buying Iranian oil,Russian weapons and energy , and sell whatever to whomsover we desire.The US can expect sanctions in return and the closure of its military MNC offices in India and unilateral abrogation of mil. agreements signed thus far. A third round of N- testing needs to be done in the future. I know a perfect time to do so- timing is important, let's patiently wait.

But leaving dealing with an erratic US aside, allowing the Chinese to issue veiled threats to us from Colombo,echoed by the Lankan pres. no friend of India,is adding insult to injury. Stern remedial measures are required. The AFG situ is equally worrisome.The US desperate to leave and the Taliban/ ISI ready to take over.We've made huge investments in AFG and have to network with the former N.Alliance C.Asian states and Russia to prevent such a takeover. The Russians are willing to give the Taliban a role in the
runnin of AFG which will wogk against us.We must resolve this conundrum. The Russians want an outlet to thf Arabisn Sea for their energy supplies through C.Asia.Chahbahar port should be the answer.A tripartite agreement with Iran and Ru. for cooperation on the same would be a great achievement.

Philip wrote:I don't think that we are jumping totally into the US camp,but incrementally, by stealthy agreements, the US is cornering our independent and sovereign right of action regardless of any external power's pressure tactics. We have several critical programmes with Russia in the military sphere,plus we're now looking for oil from Russia instead of the tension- riddled Gulf and ME. The Vladivostok- Chennai maritime route is one to be exploited,closer than oil from the US too. We cannot be " all things to all powers". The famous saying is that no man can serve two masters. Indian interests should come first and in the pecking order of friendship,we should stand by those who've been most loyal and helpful to us in the past and present as well.We are not a Puerto Rico or S.Am tinpot banana republic to be threatened with sanctions.Instead of telling the US " bugger off" ,we've cringed and crawled,pleading for mercy! That's not the behaviour of the largest democracy in the world, an N-weapons power to boot too.Even non- nuclear NATO member Turkey has defied the US over Ru S- 400 sales. It hasn't cringed and begged like we've done.

Let's look back at US sanctions after P-2. Mad Half- bright said we " shot ourselves in the foot", pressured a drunken Yeltsin to halt cryo- engines for our space programme apart from sabotaging the LCA programme,etc. But with canny help from Ru, we developed over time our indigenous versions and showed the US the little finger.Great play by ABV. That is the attitude and firmness of resolve that we must display,as we are far stronger both militarily and economically than 2 decades ago. We should keep buying Iranian oil,Russian weapons and energy , and sell whatever to whomsover we desire.The US can expect sanctions in return and the closure of its military MNC offices in India and unilateral abrogation of mil. agreements signed thus far. A third round of N- testing needs to be done in the future. I know a perfect time to do so- timing is important, let's patiently wait.

But leaving dealing with an erratic US aside, allowing the Chinese to issue veiled threats to us from Colombo,echoed by the Lankan pres. no friend of India,is adding insult to injury. Stern remedial measures are required. The AFG situ is equally worrisome.The US desperate to leave and the Taliban/ ISI ready to take over.We've made huge investments in AFG and have to network with the former N.Alliance C.Asian states and Russia to prevent such a takeover. The Russians are willing to give the Taliban a role in the
runnin of AFG which will wogk against us.We must resolve this conundrum. The Russians want an outlet to thf Arabisn Sea for their energy supplies through C.Asia.Chahbahar port should be the answer.A tripartite agreement with Iran and Ru. for cooperation on the same would be a great achievement.

India being in " American" camp is the Trump effect and Chinas needling through its proxies. If Russia was strong enough India would not have bothered, a tried and tested relationship is better, won't it. But such are the realities of the world now and geopolitics that There is a lot of giving and take behind the scenes going on with the public aware of not even the "tip of the iceberg" . More power to Modi and team for his efforts to pull India together !., its just that its darkest before dawn. India s time is coming .

While on that topic, present Iran events may be driving to an OK Corrall type decision point. If US persists in Sanction-Giri, Russia-Cheen-Iran are heading to an oil Barter trade using their own currencies. Will India sit that out by siding with US (the default, low-risk short-term option) or also break sanction-giri and shift oil trade to barter/local currency?

If the latter, and Brazil-Venezuela-Argentina-Chile follow suit, that could become one of the Black Swan events for the dollar-based world economy. EU and Pound and Mark and Yen don't have credibility because they will be seen as tied into the US camp.

Which is why I say that a comprehensive Iran-US-Israel-India-Russia- Afghanistan deal is required to get out of the mess.

Someone asked what Putin was proposing. RT.com:

One notable suggestion is that future presidents must have lived in Russia for 25 continuous years before taking office, and have never held a foreign passport or residency permit. This would bar a lot of the Western-leaning Moscow opposition from running. Not to mention a large swathe of Russian liberals, a great many of whom have lived abroad at some point. Interestingly, if this rule had existed in 2000 Vladimir Putin himself wouldn't have been able to become Russia's president. He lived in Germany from 1985-1990 (albeit on state duty).
The proposed changes will likely be made after public votes on them, to ensure broad consent. Even though they could be passed by the Duma. Rumors suggest it may be held in September.
Putin also addressed many domestic concerns in his speech today. He promised the increase of salaries for teachers and more childcare facilities, introduced free hot lunches for children in the initial four school years and extended child benefit by 48 months.
As for Medvedev, he hasn’t been cast aside. Instead, the former president has been moved to a semi-ceremonial, but still prestigious, role ending a twelve-year “tandem” where he governed Russia with Putin. It would be a mistake to write him off politically, but it would be surprising if he wields the same clout again.
As they shook hands, and Medvedev left the Kremlin for the final time as prime minister, Putin told him “not everything worked out, but it's never the case that everything works out.”
Nevertheless, Putin will hope “everything works out” for the eventual power transition in Russia. A process that has now begun.

Basically he does not want a Boris Yeltsin kleptocracy to rape Russia again once he steps down.

There was a report that when Yeltsin handed over power to Putin he said just one thing to him," protect Russia". That's what Putin has done since he took over.

Philip wrote:There was a report that when Yeltsin handed over power to Putin he said just one thing to him," protect Russia". That's what Putin has done since he took over.

...and line the pockets of his closest circle

UlanBatori wrote:While on that topic, present Iran events may be driving to an OK Corrall type decision point. If US persists in Sanction-Giri, Russia-Cheen-Iran are heading to an oil Barter trade using their own currencies. Will India sit that out by siding with US (the default, low-risk short-term option) or also break sanction-giri and shift oil trade to barter/local currency?

If the latter, and Brazil-Venezuela-Argentina-Chile follow suit, that could become one of the Black Swan events for the dollar-based world economy. EU and Pound and Mark and Yen don't have credibility because they will be seen as tied into the US camp.

Which is why I say that a comprehensive Iran-US-Israel-India-Russia- Afghanistan deal is required to get out of the mess.

Unless a country has a surplus in it's balance of trade you cannot even think of breaking sanction-giri. And even with a surplus in the balance of trade, look how carefully China is taking baby steps in that direction. It is not even an option for India.

Y. Kanan wrote:It seems to me that at least on BR, the prevailing sentiment is screw Russia; India is now Team America all the way.

Is this because we genuinely believe the US will prove a better ally, or is it because we're so scared of the US that we dare not defy them?

No because we know Putin's idea of Russia being sold to the highest bidder including the Hans and the Porkis isn't aligned with ours.

Philip wrote:There was a report that when Yeltsin handed over power to Putin he said just one thing to him," protect Russia". That's what Putin has done since he took over.

Reducing Russia's heft on the world stage, and making it China's bitch - That is how Russia is protected

Whatever " heft" is left with Russia,it was more than adequate to eliminate ISIS from Syria something which the almighty US couldn't do. As for China's rise,it is primarily the US that has allowed tyrannical China to economically flourish with its huge investments,which could've been turned to India and other democracies in greater measure.

The USN is now reporting that the RuN's sub activity is at its greatest height since the Cold War.
Russia is to get 7 new subs this year. 4 nuclear ( Belgorod,1 Borei- A SSBN, 2 Yasen-M SSGN) and 3 conventional (2 Kilo and one Lada). In addition the 10,000km range nuclear tipped ,nuclear powered torpedo ,Status-6/ Poseidon ( Kanyon by NATO ),with a speed of 100kts.depth of 1000m, is entering service along with the Avantgard BM and the Tsirkon hypersonic missile aboard Ru warships, firsts for any nation. The Kalibir missile's range is also being extended to 4500km. Not bad for its " heft", giving the US a good cauchemar.

After a few disastrous years of decline, Russian GDP growth has marginally revived over past couple of years. Will Mishtutin's appointment as prime minister help economy get on track? Is he Roosi MMS?

Philip wrote:Russia is to get 7 new subs this year. 4 nuclear ( Belgorod,1 Borei- A SSBN, 2 Yasen-M SSGN) and 3 conventional (2 Kilo and one Lada). In addition the 10,000km range nuclear tipped ,nuclear powered torpedo ,Status-6/ Poseidon ( Kanyon by NATO ),with a speed of 100kts.depth of 1000m, is entering service along with the Avantgard BM and the Tsirkon hypersonic missile aboard Ru warships, firsts for any nation. The Kalibir missile's range is also being extended to 4500km. Not bad for its " heft", giving the US a good cauchemar.

This is the kind of unstoppable deterrence with a global reach that we need. With the US now willing to flout international norms and assassinate any national leader that defies them, every nation that isn't planning on being an American lapdog should get nukes and the platforms to deliver them globally. If we fail to do this, next time it could be Modi or Bhagwat or the CDS that gets caramelized. Or the US could simply choose to destroy a bunch of high-value fixed targets in our country, or just sink all of our capitol ships. Presently, nothing is stopping the US from doing any of these things, at no cost to itself. There was a time when morality held them back, but no longer. Our failure to build a global nuclear deterrence means that if the US turned on us, we could nuke Diego Garcia and US forces in Afghanistan, but that's about it. US cities are beyond the reach of our nukes.

This is no longer an acceptable state of affairs.

Philip wrote:Let's look back at US sanctions after P-2. Mad Half- bright said we " shot ourselves in the foot", pressured a drunken Yeltsin to halt cryo- engines for our space programme apart from sabotaging the LCA programme,etc. But with canny help from Ru, we developed over time our indigenous versions and showed the US the little finger.Great play by ABV. That is the attitude and firmness of resolve that we must display,as we are far stronger both militarily and economically than 2 decades ago. We should keep buying Iranian oil,Russian weapons and energy , and sell whatever to whomsover we desire.The US can expect sanctions in return and the closure of its military MNC offices in India and unilateral abrogation of mil. agreements signed thus far. A third round of N- testing needs to be done in the future. I know a perfect time to do so- timing is important, let's patiently wait.

Indeed, why did we agree to stop buying Iranian oil without first threatening to stop all arms purchases from the US. We could have made a deal: you let us buy Iranian oil and we keep buying your military gear. If you don't agree, then f*ck off. Seriously, why did we just roll over and surrender?

the quid pro quo may not have been announced in public or there may not be a quid pro quo at all. Just threat issued and meek compliance. You can take your pick as per side of fence one is perched upon.

Y Kanan, this is the second time in a few days that you are opening a line of thought that says Indian political and military leaders are open to assassinations by US, based on extrapolation of the recent killing of Soleimani. Enough of this

Also, a warning issued for flame baiting other posters, in the West Asia thread.

1. Russian economy is half of India's.
2. China's rise is forcing us to rebalance.
3. We arent getting into the American Camp. And we arent letting go of Russia. We seek to maintain good ties with Russia. It's not an either/or for us. We are doing fine, foreign policy wise, balancing different states/interests. In fact, we are doing good for the first time in decades.

Vips wrote:

Philip wrote:There was a report that when Yeltsin handed over power to Putin he said just one thing to him," protect Russia". That's what Putin has done since he took over.

Reducing Russia's heft on the world stage, and making it China's bitch - That is how Russia is protected

100%

Raveen wrote:

Vips wrote:
Reducing Russia's heft on the world stage, and making it China's bitch - That is how Russia is protected

100%

This is not completely accurate. If the Americans play ball Russia would rather be in the western camp, they did save the collective allied ass once.

But America needs threats perceived or otherwise. Putin did his best to assure them otherwise but no one blinked.

Russia camaderie with China is a one of convenience. China is one their biggest threats., The Russian BMD radars on Asian side face China rather than say Japan.

India "holding hands" with America is similar to Russia 'holding hands" with China. A matter of convenience for both 2nd tier powers. Just geopolitics. Always in flux.

There are no permanent friends .. or enemies. Just a convergence of interests. Let's refrain from words like "bitch" or any other sort. Hardly sums the realities.

ramana wrote:Has anyone seen the points that Putin wants to make changes on?

Ramana, I recommend reading this article by Saker. (I consider Saker the best analyst of Russia in the English-speaking world.) He allows the full re-posting of his articles, so I'll do that here for archival purposes.

Saker, "The new Russian government: a much needed evolution but not a revolution"
January 22, 2020
http://thesaker.is/the-new-russian-gove ... evolution/

The suspense is over and we now know the names of all the members of the new Russian government. You can, for example, take this good summary published by RT.

What is important right now is not only what did happen, but also what did NOT happen. I will begin with two extremely important things which did NOT happen:

First, the Russian government has NOT remained unchanged. The naysayers had predicted that nothing at all would change, that the same folks who be sitting in maybe different seats, but that the changes would be primarily cosmetic. That did not happen. In reality 12 people kept their seats and another 9 were replaced.

Second, this was NOT a total gutting of the Atlantic Integrationist block. Most visibly, Anton Siluanov remained as head of the Finance Ministry. However, Siluanov was demoted from his position as First Deputy Prime Minister of Russia which has now been taken by Andrei Belousov, a huge change indeed. As for Medvedev, he was given a “golden promotion” to the largely technical position as Vice Chairman of the Security Council of Russia.

So what has taken place?

Most Russian observers notice two key things:

First, this is a highly competent, technically skilled, government. Truly, and arguably for the first time, each position in the new cabinet is now occupied by a professional whose expertise is recognized by all.

Second, this is very much a non-ideological government. This is not to say that the social and economic policies of Russia will not change, they [the social and economic policies of Russia] will [change] and the new government clearly indicates that, especially with the nominations of Prime Minister Mishustin and his First Deputy Prime Minister Andrey Belousov: these are both on record as very much proponents of what is called “state capitalism” in Russia: meaning an economic philosophy in which the states does not stifle private entrepreneurship, but one in which the state is directly and heavily involved in creating the correct economic conditions for the government and private sector to grow. Most crucially, “state capitalism” also subordinates the sole goal of the corporate world (making profits) to the interests of the state and, therefore, to the interests of the people.

In other words, goodbye turbocapitalism à la Atlantic Integrationists!

Russia has now made the fight against poverty a national strategic priority, something which the Russian people had wanted for years and which the previous “economic block” never considered a priority.

Furthermore, the entire Eurasian Sovereignists block of the government has remained unchanged. This indicates two things:

First, the Russian national security and foreign policy will remain unchanged.

Second, the Eurasian Sovereignists have finally weakened the Atlantic Integrationists to such a degree that a Medvedev nicely “boxed in” in the Russian Security Council or a Siluanov “boxed in” in the new Russian government have ceased to represent a serious threat to the future of Russia.

In other words – we can expect the new government to put even much more efforts into the ultimate goal of the full sovereignization of Russia (this goal is also reflected in the new Constitutional changes which will now place Russian national laws above any international treaty or agreements, another longtime goal of the Eurasian Sovereignists).

All I can say here is “finally!!”.

Another important thing which we can note is that Putin decided to work through evolution, not revolution. In fact, he has described this new government as a “balanced” one. There are many, including myself, who would have preferred not to see the names Medvedev and Siluanov again, but there are also many (possibly many more) who seeing these names still present might be reassured that Russia is not about to embark on a radically different political course. Frankly, I think that over the past century Russia has had enough revolutions, wars, big upheavals and terrible tragedies. There IS something to be said for stability and a gradual correction of course.

Furthermore, a new government which appears to have been formed purely on the merit of its individual members can probably generate much more support than a radically ideological one.

Where does all this leave Russia?

I would say that the Eurasian Sovereignists have finally secured their full control over the Russian state and that the demise of the Atlantic Integrationists is now a new fact of life. Since in this new government the only clearly identifiable group besides the Eurasian Sovereignists are the technocrats, this give Russia a much better chance to stand strong and united in the face of an AngloZionist Empire which has now clearly become unpredictable and therefore very dangerous (the murder of Soleimani is the best example of the actions of an Empire which has totally lost any sense of reality).

It is also interesting to note the reaction of the propaganda outlets for the Empire. Here are two of my favorite ones:

While the western “Russia experts” are usually folks who know close to nothing about Russia and the little they do not, they don’t understand, it is reassuring (and, let’s be honest here, heart warming) to see the impotent rage felt by the defenders of the AngloZionist Empire who clearly have lost control of Russia (in spite of being in TOTAL control of the Russia of the 1990s!).

Finally, the appointment of this new government leaves the Russian opposition – both the “official” parliamentary opposition and the so-called “non-system” opposition – in total disarray: the former only pretends to oppose the policies of the Kremlin while the latter is so terminally discredited that it can’t even make it into the Duma. This lack of any credible opposition might appear desirable, especially for those who, like myself, support the Kremlin, but in reality it is just another facet of a much deeper problem: Russia remains a country defined by one person, Putin, and not by a healthy and stable system. The latest reforms did take a few very good steps in the right direction (the Duma’s powers and responsibilities have been increased), but Russia will remain “Putin’s country” for the foreseeable future.

The Saker

Indian elephants in Ekaterinburg.
Apparently Indian elephants love snow!

Hannibal took elephants across the Alps remember.

Russian state owned news network RT has started showing India map without indian Kashmir (Jammu and ladakh also).

China occupied Kashmir is shown undisputed and as a part of china.

Note Russia's changing position on the current chess board.

Philip wrote:Hannibal took elephants across the Alps remember.

Look what your beloved nation russia is doing:

nvishal wrote:

Russian state owned news network RT has started showing India map without indian Kashmir (Jammu and ladakh also).

China occupied Kashmir is shown undisputed and as a part of china.

Note Russia's changing position on the current chess board.

Shame on RT if deliberate. I think at such a small scale a genuine error. Good spotting though! One must be very vigilant. Check the official Ru govt. maps.Plus Russia has always supported our stand on Kashmir and not attempted to interfere like the Donald.

On a lighter note, Irrespective of what the official polling figures in Russia say, Putin seems to be not a popular figure in this building

A Russian prankster glued a massive portrait of President Vladimir Putin to the inside of a residential elevator. He then placed a camera in the elevator to record people’s reactions. Some of the reactions were incredulous, others were angry, but all were hilarious.

Should do thf same in India with a different pic and watch the fun too?

Philip wrote:Shame on RT if deliberate. I think at such a small scale a genuine error.

Spoken like a true Russophile

Philip wrote:Should do thf same in India with a different pic and watch the fun too?

Are you really comparing the two countries ? Can your dear leader bear the taunts and vilification by his political opponents like Modi does without sending them to gulag ?

Actually if you do this is any country, the reaction will probably be the same.

It was tongue in cheek,but watching the reaction of citizens would be equally interesting. In general,ordinary people dislike being bombarded by a politico's pic,banner ad nauseum. Initially there is interest, then it dips as an assessment has been made.From time to time interests increase when important events and issues occur. Our media especially TV, bombard us with an overdose of politics which very often in juvenile and only highlights extreme views from all sides with less calm meaningful debate.

However, Russia is unique in that Putin has a huge press conference every year taking missiles and brickbats from the media on various subjects. He is exceptionally knowledgeable on a v.wide range of subjects and very candid in his answers. I don't think that any western political leader offers himself up for scrutiny.Britain is unique in the PM's "Question time",where the PM faces the slings and arrows of the Opposition.
The BBC this evening ( Dateline London) had a sr. journo acknowledge that it was Putin who was the boss in the ME region,calling the shots ( pun intended) with the US suffering " withdrawal symptoms".