VLADIMIR PUTIN AND RUSSIA
Today I am re-posting this article on Vladimir Putin and his vision for Russia. This was originally posted in November 2014
Vladimir Putin has been described as a ruthless bully, and to some degree that is true, but there is much more to this man than the west wishes to believe. Mr. Putin is a shrewd ex-KGB operative who has a vision for his country. The Bible says: Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keeps the law, happy is he (Poverbs 29.18).
Interestingly enough, this proverb applies to Putin in every sense. He has a long range vision for his country and believes in keeping the law as it applies to Russia and international politics. He has been the President of Russia since 7 May 2012. He previously served as President from 2000 to 2008, and as Prime Mister of Russia from 1999 to 2000 and again from 2008 to 2012. During his last term as Prime Minister, he was also the Chairman of United Russia , the ruling party.
He moved to Moscow, from St. Petersburg, where he was born, in 1996 and joined President Boris Yeltsin 's administration where he rose quickly, becoming Acting President on 31 December 1999 when Yeltsin resigned unexpectedly. Putin won the subsequent 2000 presidential election and was re-elected in 2004.
He has never been pleased with the fall of the Soviet Empire and dreams of restoring Russian’s former glory on the world stage. He has been planning for many years to make Russia a major world player through the use of her natural resources.
Russia is blessed with a wealth of oil, natural gas, LNG (Liquid Natural Gas), coal, and uranium. In the communist days these natural resources were totally mismanaged by the ruling Communists. Putin has always believed that the key to Russian Empire is to develop the natural resources that the world hungers for. Since taking power in Russia Putin has been focused on this very thing. All of his energy has been devoted to developing Russia’s energy, no pun intended.
Mr. Putin was born in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) in 1952. His hero when growing up was Peter the Great who began to take Russia into the modern world during the latter part of the 1600’s and early 1700’s. He grew up poor but through his grandfather, Spiridon Ivanovich Putin, he had contact with the Russian elites of the day.
His grandfather was trained as a chef and cooked for Rasputin, Lenin, and Stalin! He managed to avoid political contamination and outlived all his famous employers. Until his death, when Putin was 13 years old, he shared many insights with his grandson Vladimir.
Around the age of 12, while his grandfather was still alive, Putin started boxing and then moved on to judo, karate, and the Soviet martial art sambo. He would go on to become the citywide sambo champion. He loved the spiritual and physical demands these martial arts demanded of him. They also taught him be smart, cunning , and, above all, tightly disciplined.
In the ninth grade Putin actually went to the KGB to find out how to get a job with them. They told him he should go to law school which he did. When he graduated law school in 1975 the KGB recruited him. For the next 16 years he worked as an intelligence agent, was fluent in German, and was stationed in East Germany for five years in the 1980’s.
He resigned from the KGB in 1991 and returned to the Leningrad State University where he wrote his doctoral thesis on Russia’s economic resources being a key to Russian success and empire. After college, Putin entered politics in St. Petersburg, where he fostered a relationship with Dmitry Medvedev.
Later after entering polictics Boris Yeltsin would name Putin as his successor after Putin put down the rebellion in Chechnya. To make a long story short, Putin was first elected President in 2000 and has shared this position with Dmitry Medvedev since then.
During Putin’s rule of Russia he has seized control of Russian energy companies which had been privatized during Yeltsin’s time in power. He has accomplished this by working “legally” through Russian law and by disposing the rich Oligarch’s who had bought these companies at pennies to the dollar when the Soviet Union fell in 1998.
These companies are now partly owned by government and share holders. Putin has taken control and they are now not only profitable, but developing Russia’s natural resources at a fast pace. Russia supplies anywhere form 25% to 90% of many European nation’s gas and oil needs. Europe depends on Russian oil and gas to stay warm in winter. Putin can shut off the tap at any provocation. Think about how this affects American influence in the region!
Russia recently closed two 400 billion dollar energy deals with the Chinese. They trade with Iran, Turkey, India, Pakistan, and all the other “stans” in their geopolitical area. They are the energy power in Europe and Eurasia. Putin knows how to use this energy power to Russia’s advantage.
He also supplies Syria and other Muslim countries with oil and gas. He has made a deal with Israel to develop the gigantic gas deposits off the coast of Israel. Russian energy tentacles have hold on countries throughout the Mediterranean to Japan. They are truly becoming a powerful and wealthy nation through this industry.
As I’ve pointed out in previous postings a new world currency is on the horizon. Russian energy is being sold and traded in currencies other than the US dollar as I write. Putin’s plan is to use the Russian Ruble, gold, the Chinese Yuan, or any other national currency to conduct trade--to the exclusion of the US dollar.
Those countries that trade with Russia will be pleased to trade in their own currencies as it will be cheaper and easier for them to conduct trade without having to stock pile dollars. This is how the dollar is going to be dethroned from being the world’s reserve currency. This is Putin’s long range carefully planned strategy. This will have a huge affect on America’s ability to finance her debt.
In the United States politicians only worry about getting elected every four years by promising the voters hand outs. In Russia they have a long range goal to become the world’s premier supplier of gas, oil, coal, and uranium. This will give them great leverage over the countries that depend on them for these resources. You can see where this is leading.
This is going to have a great impact on events in the Middle East that concern Biblical prophecy. Russia is going to be a major player in end time events that include Islam, Europe, and Israel. Keep this in mind as we continue this series.
Based on the book The Colder War by Marin Katusa
For further insights:
Putin's gold play?
Allowing the Ruble to float.
Freedom from Visa and Master Card!
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