<blockquote>'..If the past few months have taught us anything, it should be that it is difficult if not impossible for the West to have a stable partnership for long with regimes that don’t share those values, however compelling geopolitical or geo-economic arguments may appear.'
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Putin’s Repressive Policies Prompting Regions, Some Post-Soviet States to Overfulfill the Plan, May 30, 2014</blockquote>
'..A real “great power” today, Akhmetov says, is a country like Sweden which hasn’t fought a war for 200 years even though in the 18<sup>th</sup> century it ha[d] “the strongest army in the world.” '<blockquote>'The Ukrainian crisis is not only isolating Russia from the world but, by creating the sense of Russia as “a besieged fortress,” also destroying what is left of federalism by promoting a “hyper-centralized economy” which will become ever less capable of promoting development and by sparking witch hunts which will undermine any chance of democracy.
Akhmetov concludes that the situation Putin has led Russia into cannot last long: there are just too many forces that will undermine him and the kind of country he wants. But, the Kazan editor asks rhetorically, does Russia really need “a new 1917?”
That can be avoided in Moscow changes course, if it decentralizes, democratizes, and addresses its domestic problems rather than dreaming about being a great power. A real “great power” today, Akhmetov says, is a country like Sweden which hasn’t fought a war for 200 years even though in the 18<sup>th</sup> century it has “the strongest army in the world.” '
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Like North Korea, Putin’s Russia ‘Destroying Itself from Within,’ Akhmetov Says, May 31, 2014</blockquote>
'..“political bookkeeping,”..'<blockquote>Staunton, May 29 – In what he describes as an act of “political bookkeeping,” Andrey Lipsky, the deputy chief editor of “Novaya gazeta” describes what Russia has gained and what it has lost so far as a result of the Ukrainian crisis, thus providing a useful checklist of the balance now and its likely direction in the future.
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..The reputation of the Russian foreign ministry has been destroyed as a reliable partner.
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Window on Eurasia: Russia’s Wins and Losses in Ukrainian Crisis Up to Now Compared, May 29, 2014</blockquote>
'..achieving progress in Russia will remain extremely difficult.'<blockquote>'..Compared to a decade ago, those in the middle class who are investing in education are now less numerous than they were because the return on such investments has fallen dramatically in Russia.
That is “a very poor sign,” the sociologist says, because “it means that we are losing the opportunity for further development” and that making a breakthrough will be ever more difficult. At the same time, Tikhonova says she won’t “demonize” the regime because its leaders understand this, have tried to do the right thing, but have been “sabotaged” from below.
Until elites recognize that they must promote development rather than simply line their own pockets, an attitude that is unlikely to take place until more are “hereditary” members of the middle class, however, Tikhonova concludes, achieving progress in Russia will remain extremely difficult.'
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Putin Electorate Reflects Underlying Continuities in Russian Society Sociologist Says, May 30, 2014</blockquote>
Context<blockquote>
'..military force .. at enormous costs..'A Challenge for Russian Parents – Raising Free Children in a Totalitarian State</blockquote>