4. What’s Really Happening in Russia?

John Simpson's World Podcast

Once again John nail’s it with his experienced view on what is happening in the world, this time in Russia. Is Russia the superpower they want us to believe they are? Why did the US play such a foolish game after the collapse of communism? Do we need to be worried about Putin and indeed his increasingly cosy relationship with China? What IS it with those semi-naked horse photos? Should Boris Johnson pose semi-naked on a horse? And crucially, could John Simpson have Vladimir Putin in a fight?

On this episode we cover:

How we were conditioned for so many decades to think of Russia as a great superpower

And an alternative system to ours

The system collapsed without real industrial growth

We now have a much smaller version

Still the biggest country in the world

But it’s lost a lot of the rich and productive parts

A president who seemed at first to want to join with western countries

The US played a very foolish game after the collapse of communism

Instead of reaching out the hand of friendship they played the winner

Putin realised the Russian people like to think they’re as strong as before

The entire economy is only the size of Australia’s

It doesn’t spend all that much more on armed forces than Britain does

It’s a big, lumbering deeply inefficient society with pretentions to grandeur

Very clever diplomatic footwork to give misleading impressions

Vladimir Putin is ‘renting out the place to China’

Turning Russia into China’s small time bodyguard figure

China has the economy, Russian has the armed forces

It’s not what the majority of Russians would want

But it’s hard to get through to Russians

The negative stereotypical image of a Russian abroad

How Russians in Russia are very different

But still gloomy looking

How much John loves Russia and Russian people

Russians being wonderfully warm and affectionate beneath the gloom

Russian people have soul

John meeting Putin several times

The impression is tha Putin suffer from little man syndrome

…A former spook with a dislike of Western values

…but None of this is true!

Putin being surprisingly warm and friendly

Putin watching the BBC a lot to improve his English

Putin being a John Simpson fan!

Very very charming

John meeting Gaddafi and Saddam

Gaddafi being ‘just a nutter’

Nutters can be quite exciting

Is Putin dangerous?

He can be deeply disruptive

Putin idea of none of the dangers that face our planet

How the finger on the button/ambitious plan to rule the world Putin doesn’t really exist

Although it’s not a bad idea to be a bit nervous of Putin

John asking Putin’s chief of security how many of their journalists can end up dead

The job of a foreign correspondent being to ask hard questions

Could John Simpson have Putin in a fight

John’s learning to box as a child

Putin semi-naked on a horse

The real message Putin wants to show the world

How UK politics would be a lot more fun if Boris Johnson got his kit off on a horse

Are the Russians fiddling with our politics?

Putin wants to weaken the West

The mixture of enormous wealth (china) and considerable cunning (Russia) is something we will have to face up to soon

Could the China/Russia relationship be beneficial to us?

How we are stuck with the old ‘we’ve got to have an enemy’ and need to move beyond that

John’s passion for translating Chinese poetry

Funny Chinese food products and ‘fried cock’

Ultimately we’re seeing Putin’s long term attraction to voters is finally going down

But does this mean he will do something silly to reverse this…?