NEWSWATCH: “Putin’s Chance to Change History” – Stratfor

Aerial View of Kremlin and Environs

Twenty-five years ago, an unsuccessful coup attempt, known as the August Coup, was launched by a group of hawkish Communist Party members and security elites against Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev, in what was widely seen as one of the key moments that led to the collapse of the Soviet Union. * * * A keen student of history, Vladimir Putin has called the collapse of the Soviet Union the ‘major geopolitical disaster of the century.’ But although Putin has reformed his country back into a major geopolitical power, even he must see the similarities between the pressures building on his country today and those that led up to the August Coup. For 16 years, Putin has balanced between liberal and conservative power factions, much like Gorbachev did, forcing him to vacillate between both camps’ domestic and foreign policies. Putin has been a masterful arbitrator for nearly two decades, but still the discontent from within is rising. …

Click here for Stratfor: Putin’s Chance to Change History

 

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