Message-ID: <007b01c7f0cb$0725bed0$15713c70$@com>
Date: Thu, 6 Sep 2007 16:15:12 -0500
From: "Joel R. Helgeson" <joel@...geson.com>
To: "'Simon Smith'" <simon@...soft.com>
Cc: full-disclosure@...ts.grok.org.uk
Subject: Re: What do you guys make of this?

Short answer, no. The Russia of today has little resemblance of the Cold War
Russia. Putin is Ex-KGB and is somewhat waxing nostalgic for the way it used
to be. He wants to show the world that he deserves attention without acting
like a lunatic (like N. Korea).

Putin knows that his government will be viewed by history as being a
transitional government. It is Putin's goal to be remembered as the man who
saved Russia, to prove that the Russian people are a proud people, worthy of
respect and not to be underestimated.  And if Putin fails? Well, at least
the Vodka is still cheap!

He won't fail though. The world is a better place having them participate in
the global economy.

The circumstances that begat the cold war are no longer around. Remember, it
was the fax machine that caused Russia to collapse. Once the government
controlled newspapers lost their grip on the flow of information, they could
no longer manage the country. To counter the fax machine, Gorbachev
implemented Perestroika, which enabled the Russians to see how depraved
their economy was, and the regime collapsed shortly thereafter.

A friend & colleague who received his PhD in Russian studies was visiting
the USSR in the early 80's.  He said that he was in a park throwing a
Frisbee when he was approached by a police officer who told him he was
breaking the law and should stop if he didn't want to get arrested.  He
answered in perfect Russian, "How am I breaking the law? Where is the law
stating I cannot throw a Frisbee in the park on a warm sunny day." To which
the officer replied "Comrade, there is no law that states that you CAN throw
a Frisbee in the park."

He would further relate that in public, his friends would talk about
this-and-that, but in private, they all wanted to know "Is the United States
really going to nuke us?" He couldn't believe it because in the USSR, the
number one fear on the minds of every Russian was fear of nuclear
annihilation, while at the same time in the USA, the number one fear on the
minds of every American was public speaking... Literally!

So, no, this does not concern me. In fact, I think it's kinda cute.  That
silly Putin!

Regards,
Joel Helgeson

-----Original Message-----
From: Simon Smith [mailto:simon@...soft.com] 
Sent: Thursday, September 06, 2007 3:04 PM
To: Joel R. Helgeson
Cc: full-disclosure@...ts.grok.org.uk
Subject: Re: [Full-disclosure] What do you guys make of this?

I agree with what you said for the most part. I also know that most
Russian people are very happy with what Putin is doing. Thus far, in
their eyes, he's one of the best leaders that they've had in ages. Do
you think that Russia is actually going to become a threat again? Do you
think this will go back to the cold-war like times?

Joel R. Helgeson wrote:
> There was a time in foreign policy where no country, no diplomat would
make
> a foreign policy decision without first asking "what does Russia think of
> this?". Well, Russia is no longer a super power, the fall from which left
> Putin feeling excluded. He's always wanted to get Russia back to
superpower
> status, he wants his Mother Russia to be significant again.
> 
> For years, the Russian economy was cash strapped. Just recently Putin
> revamped the entire tax system and implemented a 12% flat tax. For the
first
> time since the collapse, the tax revenues are POURING in. They now have
> enough gas to fuel a plane, and now they want to get back into being
viewed
> as a superpower, to be 'feared', they desperately want to matter again, to
> be important.
> 
> So, they're acting out in an aggressive manner - using tried and true cold
> war era tactics.  It comes across to me as childish, throwing a fit just
to
> get attention.
> 
> It is not propaganda, Russia is just trying to say "We're
BAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK!
> And this time, we've got 31337 H4x0rz!"
> 
> Joel Helgeson
> 952-858-9111
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: full-disclosure-bounces@...ts.grok.org.uk
> [mailto:full-disclosure-bounces@...ts.grok.org.uk] On Behalf Of Simon
Smith
> Sent: Thursday, September 06, 2007 11:47 AM
> To: full-disclosure@...ts.grok.org.uk
> Subject: [Full-disclosure] What do you guys make of this?
> 
> So, whats up with Russia these days? I'm hearing more and more about
> Russia on the news. Is this just propaganda or is something really going
on?
> 
> http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6957589.stm
> 
> - simon
> 
> ----------------------
> http://www.snosoft.com
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Full-Disclosure - We believe in it.
> Charter: http://lists.grok.org.uk/full-disclosure-charter.html
> Hosted and sponsored by Secunia - http://secunia.com/
> 


-- 

- simon

----------------------
http://www.snosoft.com

_______________________________________________
Full-Disclosure - We believe in it.
Charter: http://lists.grok.org.uk/full-disclosure-charter.html
Hosted and sponsored by Secunia - http://secunia.com/

Powered by blists - more mailing lists