Vladimir Putin is back in the saddle of the Russian presidency, and one of his first moves involved a double-diss throw down on the US! He refused to attend the big G-8 Summit being hosted in the US! What is up with that? Plenty my friends, and it’s not all about the US either. Putin’s moves reflect a tilt way from the Team West dominated G-8 and NATO groups, and towards grander relationships with Asia and specifically China. Learn all the details of the double-diss here and the deeper meaning behind them.
2012 is a big election year…everywhere! The Professor takes a brief world tour to catch you up on the hot spots of political power transition happening right now across the planet.Russians are at the polls today to likely re-elect Vladimir Putin; a presidential run-off is in play in Senegal; Iran just wiped out political support for Mahmoud Ahmadinejad; Nicolas Sarkozy of France is getting ready to be trounced; and Hugo Chavez of Venezuela is a big question mark as a second round of cancer treatment calls into question his ability to stand again for office. Democratic change is afoot, Watson!
Brrrrrr…it’s getting cold out there! And for Russians, I’m not just talking about the weather! While there has been a significant cold-snap-smack-down on western Russia and Eastern Europe, this Professor rant deals more with the political, economic, and social chill that has set in on Vladimir Putin’s Russia. The western news media portray the Russian public protest against the government and upcoming elections as a simplistic anti-Putin/pro-democracy thing…but there is much more going on behind the scenes in Russia that is causing this anti-establishment chill to set in. Included in this discussion are corruption, wealth disparity, a fleeing middle class, mafia, and an un-diversified economy that together are creating a sense of hopelessness and political despondency amongst some Russian peoples. And Putin is now paying attention to the change in the Russian political climate!
As promised last podcast, the Professor now looks forward to the new year of 2012 to inform you of the details of the significant shift of world leadership going down in the next 365 days. From new leaders to be tested in North Korea, Italy and Spain; to election cycles in US, Mexico, France, Russia, and Taiwan; to major turnovers in China, Palestine and possibly Pakistan, Syria, and Yemen…the parade of new faces started in 2011 is going to be accelerated significantly in the coming year, and the Professor wants you to be in the know!
Happy New Year’s Eve! The Professor takes some time on the brink of 2012 to look back at what happened to world leaders from around the globe in 2011. It was a tough year to be in charge this year, as evidenced by the demise of dictators, the overthrow of or attacks on authoritarian regimes, plagues of personal health, and even the decline in support of significant democratic leaders all over the planet. Sometimes “it’s good to be da’ king!”....but not in 2011 it wasn’t!!!!
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