Quote:
Originally Posted by Monahammer
I hate to wish this on the Russian people, but the best possible outcome for the west is some sort of civil war over Navalny and his exposure of Putin/ subsequent attempted murder and arrest. It still seems like a distant glimmer, but the russian people do have some experience in revolutions.
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While Putin is around there won't be any revolution. He has somehow managed to make Russians both love him and fear him. He brought them out of the chaos that followed the dissolution of the Soviet Union and provided stability, order and helped to grow a large middle class. He also dangled the very Americanesque carrot that you can make it rich if you play the game his way. There are a lot of Russians that still support him. Those that don't understand what can happen when you openly go against him. Navalny is important for Putin for that reason.
He's like one of the old-time mafia bosses. Comes in, takes over the neighborhood, cracks down on all the independent crooks, emasculates his closest rivals until they bend the knee, hands out turkeys at Thanksgiving and murders anyone that opposes him.
Russia will change but not until Putin is dead. But even then it could end up with someone worse. It could take generations for a real positive Russia to emerge.