But, no one rushed in to destroy any existing authority. The Post Soviet States developed their own paths forward, including Russia. They all embraced their new futures with optimism and sought relationships with other counties, within their own group and region and then turned to the rest of the world for acceptance.
This blog has been in existence since 2004. I began it to reach anyone interested in understanding the plight we all face on planet Earth and an ever increasing climate crisis. There is definitely an anthropogenic element to the climate crisis so I also recorded human activity including that of governments and their shift in directions that were beneficial vs. harmful. Also industry abuses such as the petroleum industry.
I began this blog about a week before the Christmas Tsunami (click here) on December 26, 2004, which killed so many in the Indonesian region. I started to receive incredible photos immediately after the earthquake and tsunami. People trust Americans. I learned quickly how much they trust a single American to bring their story and strife to the world. The pictures at that time are exclusive, real, and riveting. I have never sought to profit in any way from this blog and have always been grateful to Google for this platform.
It will be 20 years that have I sat this post in the world and it has been a purpose in my life. During that twenty years I have witnessed and documented Putin's influence in Russia and it's turn away from freedom and democracy, to become the dictatorship of a man driven by insecurity and fear. Alexei Navalny was the epitome of Putin's deepest fear. I sincerely miss Alexei Navalny and blame Putin for his death.
One cannot trust those that embrace such a horrible human being and strive to be like him while seeking the office of president in the USA. It is unconscionable and immensely UnAmerican.
By Steve Rosenberg
..."A lot of KGB agents, (click here) like Putin, had left the organisation, realising it was discredited. The fact that he was ex-KGB meant nothing. Putin had shown himself to be a liberal and a democrat, who wanted to continue market reforms..."
...On New Year's Eve 1999, Boris Yeltsin recorded his final TV address in the Kremlin....
...Vladimir Putin became acting president. Three months later, he won the election....
..."Putin's entourage doesn't exert influence like this," explains political scientist Valery Solovei.
"There are two categories of people Putin leans towards: childhood friends, like the Rotenberg brothers and those who served in the Soviet KGB.
"But he doesn't overestimate their loyalty. Yeltsin trusted members of his family. Putin trusts no-one."...
...Mr Putin has remained in power, as president or prime minister, for 20 years. In that time, he has built a system of power that revolves around him. Under his watch, Russia has become an increasingly authoritarian state, with fewer democratic rights and freedoms.
"Yeltsin believed he had a mission, and so does Putin," Mr Solovei says. "Yeltsin saw himself as Moses: he wanted to lead his country out of its communist slavery.
"Putin's mission is to return to the past. He wants to avenge what he calls 'the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the 20th Century', the fall of the USSR. He and his entourage, former KGB officers, believe the destruction of the Soviet Union was the work of Western intelligence services."...
