http://www.michaelbutler.com/blog/civic/2008/02/29/nyt-guest-op-ed-russia%e2%80%99s-last-hope/ Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past.- George Orwell Fri, 09 Jan 2009 00:50:16 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.0.2 http://www.michaelbutler.com/blog/civic/2008/02/29/nyt-guest-op-ed-russia%e2%80%99s-last-hope/#comment-3579 Sat, 01 Mar 2008 09:50:18 +0000 http://www.michaelbutler.com/blog/civic/2008/02/29/nyt-guest-op-ed-russia%e2%80%99s-last-hope/#comment-3579 We all wish Mr Medvedev well on this tricky voyage he is embarking on. In the middle of the article, the writer identifies some of the major problems russia is up against: '. The failure to modernize industry or agriculture, the growing corruption in government, the ubiquitous drunkenness, the record numbers of murders and suicides, the terrible state of Russian health care and the problems that come with a shrinking population will fall on Mr. Medvedev’s young shoulders.'He says. Then in the final paragraph, he talks about whether Medvedev can maintain Russia as a superpower. Wishing to address the stated problems and remain a superpower is like wanting your cake and eating it. If the internal problems can at least be mitigated if not completely solved, that in itself would be a big result, and would gain International respect if not necessarily superpower status, a phrase which is a bit of a red herring, anyway. We all wish Mr Medvedev well on this tricky voyage he is embarking on.
In the middle of the article, the writer identifies some of the major problems russia is up against: ‘. The failure to modernize industry or agriculture, the growing corruption in government, the ubiquitous drunkenness, the record numbers of murders and suicides, the terrible state of Russian health care and the problems that come with a shrinking population will fall on Mr. Medvedev’s young shoulders.’He says.
Then in the final paragraph, he talks about whether Medvedev can maintain Russia as a superpower. Wishing to address the stated problems and remain a superpower is like wanting your cake and eating it.
If the internal problems can at least be mitigated if not completely solved, that in itself would be a big result, and would gain International respect if not necessarily superpower status, a phrase which is a bit of a red herring, anyway.

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