Putin is widely considered to be one of the wealthiest people on earth. Where and how do you think he manages his spoils, and how complicit are western institutions in its maintenance and atomisation of its existence?
Do you think that the West made a strategic mistake after the war in Ukraine broke out by imposing blanket draconian restrictions on pretty much ALL Russians? I understand sanctions on billionaire oligarchs close to the regime, but suspending and sometimes even cancelling banking services and credit cards, denying visas and residence permits of the vast majority of ordinary people who wanted to demonstrate they do NOT support the war was in my opinion borderline insane. Instead of opening the door and welcoming all those competent and financially capable of contributing to the West, they instead ensured that a huge amount of people were never able to leave the country, and a significant number of those that did had to return because of administrative difficulties.
Matt Taibbi tells a mixture of horror stories about greedy, manipulative, western finance guys in Russia in the early 2000s, and stories about cowboy finance guys who told the Russians some hard truths. Which picture that Taibbi observed was closer to the truth?
What different choices could have been made in the aftermath of the collapse of the USSR to improve the current situation? e.g. bringing Russia into NATO.
Putin will eventually die, most likely of old age. The real question is not whether he will leave the stage, but what happens after he does.
Who is most likely to replace him? Will another strongman take over? Will a rival faction emerge? Or will Russia move toward an entirely different political system?
In other words, when Putin is gone, what comes next?
Rumours are circulating that Putin’s power is threatened now the war in Ukraine has been so disastrous. To what extent is this true, and if it is, to what extent does this provide an opportunity to deradicalise or make Russia more West-aligned (assuming a full liberal democracy is not plausible but Russia is still at least somewhat saveable). If so, what can each person do (ranging from me personally to Donald Trump or Nigel Farage if he’s prime minister) to save Russia?
There is something perplexing about the worldwide "battle" against human rights abusers, corrupt oligarchs and other disregarders of rule of law. It seems tantamount to admitting that the nations destined to become the most powerful empires are those most willing to flout our principles. What about using OUR wherewithal to make OUR nations manifestly superior in quality of life and defensive capability, and waiting for the nations run by dark triad types to collapse from within?
Hi Bill, you will coverthis anyway i expect but who do you expect to take over from Putin - will it be A) smooth and B) better or worse for Russia and the world?
A Russian filmmaker, backed by Norwegian and other national film funds made a film about the Magnitsky story. It was backed by national film funds, public money. And it set out to dismantle the very account you'd spent years building. What was it like to fight against that film?
what a guest.cant wait for this.
Just how rotten is the UN?
Also, in a deal like we just saw where Iran gets $300 billion, how much getsvskimned off before it even gets to the Iranians' swiss bank accounts?
Putin is widely considered to be one of the wealthiest people on earth. Where and how do you think he manages his spoils, and how complicit are western institutions in its maintenance and atomisation of its existence?
Do you think that the West made a strategic mistake after the war in Ukraine broke out by imposing blanket draconian restrictions on pretty much ALL Russians? I understand sanctions on billionaire oligarchs close to the regime, but suspending and sometimes even cancelling banking services and credit cards, denying visas and residence permits of the vast majority of ordinary people who wanted to demonstrate they do NOT support the war was in my opinion borderline insane. Instead of opening the door and welcoming all those competent and financially capable of contributing to the West, they instead ensured that a huge amount of people were never able to leave the country, and a significant number of those that did had to return because of administrative difficulties.
Matt Taibbi tells a mixture of horror stories about greedy, manipulative, western finance guys in Russia in the early 2000s, and stories about cowboy finance guys who told the Russians some hard truths. Which picture that Taibbi observed was closer to the truth?
Question for Sir Bill: is NATO strong enough without the USA to take on any challenge Russia might pose by attacking a NATO member country?
What different choices could have been made in the aftermath of the collapse of the USSR to improve the current situation? e.g. bringing Russia into NATO.
THE WAITING ROOM OF THE KREMLIN.
Putin will eventually die, most likely of old age. The real question is not whether he will leave the stage, but what happens after he does.
Who is most likely to replace him? Will another strongman take over? Will a rival faction emerge? Or will Russia move toward an entirely different political system?
In other words, when Putin is gone, what comes next?
Rumours are circulating that Putin’s power is threatened now the war in Ukraine has been so disastrous. To what extent is this true, and if it is, to what extent does this provide an opportunity to deradicalise or make Russia more West-aligned (assuming a full liberal democracy is not plausible but Russia is still at least somewhat saveable). If so, what can each person do (ranging from me personally to Donald Trump or Nigel Farage if he’s prime minister) to save Russia?
There is something perplexing about the worldwide "battle" against human rights abusers, corrupt oligarchs and other disregarders of rule of law. It seems tantamount to admitting that the nations destined to become the most powerful empires are those most willing to flout our principles. What about using OUR wherewithal to make OUR nations manifestly superior in quality of life and defensive capability, and waiting for the nations run by dark triad types to collapse from within?
What did Bill think about the use of the Magnitsky act against Alexandre de Moraes? Is there still too much politics around using the act?
https://seemorerocks.substack.com/p/andrei-nekrasov-bill-browder-and?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=7atc shutdown a documentary that did not show him in a good light. When Alek Krainer wrote a book disputing his events. He got it banned from amazon. The book was given away as a pdf. Has some good connections. You wonder who is backing him? Uncle Vlad would be impressed.
Hi Bill, you will coverthis anyway i expect but who do you expect to take over from Putin - will it be A) smooth and B) better or worse for Russia and the world?
Is it a good idea for Zelenskyy to hit Moscow?
A Russian filmmaker, backed by Norwegian and other national film funds made a film about the Magnitsky story. It was backed by national film funds, public money. And it set out to dismantle the very account you'd spent years building. What was it like to fight against that film?