Comments by "Joao Costa" (@JoaoCosta-pn9im) on "Pyotr Kurzin | Geopolitics"
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The nucleus of Putin’s power is tiny. It may consist of 3 to 5 men. The chiefs of his personal guard, the head of FSB, the head of secret service of the Army and maybe a couple of easily identifiable hardcore guys. This is the centre that makes the decision. The second layer, with Medvedev, Shoygu, and others, are more numerous but powerless beyond their strict business where Putin is the one setting the targets and methods. Below that, the third layer is comprised of technocrats with not much affinities with Putin’s power methods but willing to do the jobs for good salaries. Apart from the hardcore, no one has real power and no one likes Putin. Those at the second and third levels are opportunists filling up their pockets as they can. They will easily change allegiances when the time comes. But they also know that those at the hardcore have files on all of them and can have them in jail or worse in a blink of an eye. The authoritarian regime is sliding faster into a totalitarian autocracy. Putin can only trust the hardcore, whose guys are all fully aware and committed to carry on perpetrating crimes and stealing the state indefinitely, sustaining Putin in power in an almost terror based regime. This structure is fragile and will collapse. Stalin had the same thing. But Stalin had the strong communist ideology and could afford to kill his closest allies such as Beria. Putin does not have ideological base because he is a thief and everyone knows that. The “Zism” ideology is a stupid propaganda attempt to creat something like an ideological glue, but the Russian society is driven by conveniences and preservation of status quo; they know well those in power steal the wealth of the country, but prefer to keep out of troubles with the police. They know Zism is only a mask. Complacency and fear keep the Russians quiet watching their relatives being killed in the war and Putin killing his opponents. This cannot last indefinitely.
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