I imagine Russia is not far removed from China, they resent being told by the west what is good for them, I wonder if people feel that they have prospered under Putin. I suspect that they feel that he is a very strong defender of the nationals against the imperialist west. this sentiment is echoed in China and the ME.

Yes, but they don't. At least not your typical "Rah-Rah, Trump is the Bestest" Trump supporter.

So really, for them it's no different. They only believe what Trump tells them to believe.

Who will take over, will the Russian people praise him/her as they do with Putin? Will they be as corrupt or worse?

Well, there's some difference, to my mind, when you choose to only receive one message, as opposed to when you have no choice in the matter.

Now I really don't know if he is strengthening the Russian economy and if the people are better off than they were in the early 1990's but I would suspect overall their quality of life is better which is why they like him.

My Chinese colleague has suggested that China is to vast, disparate and culturally different to rule any way other than the current - whether or not I agree is a different story.

Yeah my Chinese friend would say it is too big and too many people for democracy to work.

Russian GDP growth in 2000 was around 10%. It's not 1.5 and has been in the negatives over several years in the past decade. Ranked against other countries, where the US is the #1 country by GDP and China is #2, Russia is #13. Their economy is somewhere comparable to Italy. Inflation is fairly high. It's tough to claim to be a major world power with that kind of economy. Their life expectancy is lower than the US and China, something like 70 vs 79 for the US, but that has gone up a bit since the fall of the USSR.

I think quality of life has increased for many Russians under Putin, partially because of what they were coming from with the fall of the USSR and the chaos that existed under Yeltsin. But there's still a lot of poverty and areas of the country where you might think you were living 200 years ago.

I think this is a lot of it. I'm sure Putin along with a lot of Russians blame the west for the collapse of the Soviet Union. Their arch-nemesis won the cold war and embarrassed them. Now Putin is trying to use all of that to make his country stronger and install national pride again. Now I really don't know if he is strengthening the Russian economy and if the people are better off than they were in the early 1990's but I would suspect overall their quality of life is better which is why they like him.

Just kidding. Pres Putin wins election with ~76% of the vote, and it looks like ~60% voter turnout. That's less than the Kremlin hoped for (they were shooting for 70/70), but still pretty overwhelming. For reference, in 2012, he won ~63% of the vote

It says something that, in a country and en election where there was really only ever one possible outcome, Russia (the enemy of democracy) gets 60% voter turnout, and we (the cradle of modern democratic virtue) barely crack 55%.

So, six more years for Pres Putin, assuming he makes no effort to change the RF constitution to remove term limits, and/or he's not deposed before the end of his term. That will put him in office/power for roughly 24 years, second only to Josef Stalin.

I spent 7 years in the middle east and I am now in China (if I can get Russia and North Korea I will have a full house) and it always amazed me, and still does, the huge gulf between how the west views their politics and how the locals do.

I am working for a Chinese Multi-national, the guy I am working for, and apparently many others are, is Alll-in on supporting Xixingping, and he is not some backwards, rural dwelling, uneducated Chinese Hick.

His father was a Diplomat in NY from when he was 12, he completed HS, College, his medical degree and is US Board Certified Cardio-thoracic surgeon and he chose to return to China.

He echoes the sentiment about Tianamen square, that the perpetrators were selfish, he things Xixingping has done a good job on clearing corruption.

When I was in the ME, it was similar, whilst some wanted a more transparent and open society, many just thought no-change was best, it works for them.

I was there through the Arab Spring, and the funniest part of the whole thing, was the idea that the West brings democracy to Egypt, we give them the vote, they vote for the brotherhood and we tell them they got it wrong and should do it again.

My Chinese colleague has suggested that China is to vast, disparate and culturally different to rule any way other than the current - whether or not I agree is a different story.

In the ME, the issue is one that we simply would not recognise from the west, which is family and tribe trump nationality, so they have the dictatorships they have.........until they dont.

I imagine Russia is not far removed from China, they resent being told by the west what is good for them, I wonder if people feel that they have prospered under Putin. I suspect that they feel that he is a very strong defender of the nationals against the imperialist west. this sentiment is echoed in China and the ME.

Very much agree with this. I grew up in communist ex Yugoslavia and traveled a lot so I think I have a good understanding of how Russians and Middle Easterners view the West. Nobody likes when somebody tries to tell them how and what to do in their own country. Russians are nationalists, something that many Americans don't seem to understand, at least not on the same level as, say, Croats, Serbs, Russians etc. Many of them are ready to give up things and suffer a bit for the country, while Westerners are not. To them, economy means less and the power of the country more. If anything, Russia has an image problem which I think is visible from when Putin showed videos of those new weapons and said something like that the US will have to listen to them now.

I have travelled a bit through the balkans, I remember listening to a documentary on:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Top_lista_nadrealista


I do not think anyone in the west, perhaps Northern Ireland and the Basque country aside, can really understand the family / tribe / religious / Nationalist drivers that are so strong in places like the Middle East, Russia, the balkans and China. We simply do not have them in South London


I know there are scottish and welsh nationalists, but it is so very different to tribal loyalty in the ME, or nationalism in China.


The documentary on the comedy group was amazing, primarily because these were people who were great friends, who's humour was in part based upon the cultural differences and politics between the populations and then it all kicked off


the NPR journalist who had listened to them, went back to attempt to reunite them, and the respective sides could not agree to meet


Putin, Xixingping, Duterte, these are all people who for a variety of reasons have the backing of much of their own populations, who will not be lectured to by the west


As a total aside, you may know the answer to this. As you drive north from Dubrovnik to Split, you cross the border in to B&H for perhaps 10km (not very far) then back in to Croatia.


Why did they end up with that small stretch of coastline in the peace settlement? it just seemed weird when we drove through? its also not the prettiest part of that coast...........