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Radio War Nerd EP #374 — Understanding Putin, with Philip Short (Patreon)

Published:
2023-04-21 20:05:07
Imported:
2026-06
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Content

Guest: Philip Short, author 

Recorded: April 18, 2023

We talk to celebrated biographer Philip Short (Mao: A Life; Pol Pot: Anatomy of a Nightmare) about his controversial new biography on Vladimir Putin.

First: we briefly discuss events in Sudan.

At 15:00 - our interview with Short begins.

Buy Philip Short's new biography, Putin.

Total time: 1:39:07

Direct link to this episode's mp3 here 

Files

Comments

T

Just about to start a 90min long boring manual labor chore. Thank the war gods for this drop.

Ilya Fishman

Oh good another Putin-understander....

Anatoly Kir

Re: Apartment Bombings - If we take what the CIA/MI6 say with inherent suspicion (I.e reaction to Hersh’s reporting on Nord Stream bombings), why would we believe their assessment of FSB’s lack of involvement in the apartment bombings?

Chas Padunski

Presumably because it’s unclear what they have to gain in it not being Putin, but have quite a bit to gain in NS2 not being the US or a state ally. Even if they had reason to gain then (& that seems slim), they could easily revise now. It’s not that one should view what state officials or intel operatives say with suspicion, but rather discernment.

Anatoly Kir

I believe - given the support Putin pledged for pardoning the Yeltsin family during a crucial legislative investigation in Russia - indeed the West had a vested interest in Putin (Yeltsin’s appointed successor) emerging as a supported leader

Ilya Fishman

They can have him and enjoy him. Why did they cancel May 9th Parade? Why did they cancel Bessmertnij Polk march?

Animals in Motion

Yes everybody were having orgies and kissing their portraits of Stalin.

Tyler Berglund

Its pretty jarring to listen to this episode immediately after True Anons latest interview with Seth Harp where both the hosts and guests remark how obviously Russia has won or is winning the Ukrainian war. Despite de-dollarization, rapid growing eastern economic ties & Russia’s resilience to sanctions… still RWN repeats the mantra of labeling the war as ‘stupid’ and ‘going horribly wrong’.

Jaime Christley

I'm Putin this guy's books on the top of my reading list!

Poppy Chulo

lo Wow a despots approval rating in his own country is really high!

Ilya Fishman

Yes! I love The War Nerd shows, but they're trying way too hard to make Putin look like a poor provoked little guy. Way too hard

Ilya Fishman

Yes it's like debating within a religious order: can argue about anything, just can't argue that god is a made up ghoul and the dogma of the order is nonsense.

Ilya Fishman

Yeah man! Russia 100% won. Took Kiev, Odessa...Bahmut..oh wait lmao

Ilya Fishman

Even if an aggressor is winning, like the Whermacht in 1939 in Poland, doesn't mean that the war isn't a criminal and stupid move. And also Russia isn't winning....cause Bahmut....after a year....

Ander Pierce

In terms of economic alliance with BRICS? Russia is doing pretty well. Then again, it would have been doing better if it hadn't invaded Ukraine. In terms of actually winning its war against Ukraine? So far it is mostly just bleeding its own men for the 'benefit' of killing Ukrainians. What does that accomplish? Eventually they get to forcibly occupy a depopulated Ukraine and steal some productive land IF they win. Forget morality for one moment and look at this in terms of military objectives: they had more territory captured a handful of months ago, if they capture Bahkmut (which they'll do any minute now, as they've been saying for months!) what's to prevent them from losing it like they did the territory and strategic cities in the Northeast during the Ukrainian counterattack? In terms of morality, fuck this invasion. "NATO made us do it" is as easy to deride as NATO or Ukraine saying "Russia made us do it" if it had launched a fullscale invasion of the separatist republics, escalating the war from a low-level conflict with 14k dead over 8 years to a war where you get that many dead in 2 months.

Jimothy Realname

heres what i know about vladolf vladolfmirovich putler: he has cancer and he fell down the stairs and pooped his pants, and he's soooo stupid and crazy

Doug Cartel

I guess I kinda sympathise with Putin in the sense of "generally cautious and then takes a really stupid risk occasionally" Clinton pretending his big fuck-up was Budapest 1994 and not NATO exspnsion is hilarious

Haemu

My thought here is that people would have particular reservations sharing those feelings with a BBC journalist.

etienne

I remember like 10 years ago watching video compilations of Putin confronting political and business people for various failures and finding it really compelling. He seems like a guy who can at least make a show of yelling at the bad guys and scare them off with his big cold blue eye stare. Not that western politicians don't occasionally try to yell at CEOs sometimes but it doesn't hit the same way

Ilya Fishman

Russia is in no way doing anything like well economicaly. Before the invasion was shite too.

Ilya Fishman

And melted a good % of his army in Ukraine;)

Aditya V

great interview. one for the ages. Putin's transformation from learned cautiousness to his original risk-taking nature happened in early 2021. Evidence for this comes from unprecedented statements from Russian officials after Zelensky announced a strategy to take Crimea, a strategy formally backed by EU officials. EU council president went to the conference that discussed taking Crimea. Russian officials close to Putin warned that Zelensky govt was like "children playing with matches" and that it would be the "end of Ukraine". Why did EU formally back (and perhaps incited) Zelensky's Crimea strategy? Putin had realized EU was upto something. Recent article by FP columnist described EU's plans: "Western analysts [are planning for] the West to benefit from the fracture [of Russia] by luring resource-rich successor nations into its ambit. They argue that when the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991 the West was blindsided and failed to fully capitalize on the momentous opportunity." https://foreignpolicy.com/2023/04/17/the-west-is-preparing-for-russias-disintegration/

Aditya V

In 2020, NATO action officer Florian Encke responsible for NATO-Ukraine relations wrote an article inciting or threatening Zelensky to attack Crimea: "Clearly, the fight for independence remains Ukraine’s national task. It is up to Ukrainians to decide how to restore territorial integrity without undermining sovereignty and independence." https://www.nato.int/docu/review/articles/2020/07/08/an-independent-and-sovereign-ukraine-is-key-to-euro-atlantic-security/index.html Few months later in March 2021, Zelensky came up with formal, official strategy to take Crimea

Of course

Yes, it probably has a different intent and effect than when Elizabeth Warren wags her finger at a naughty banker from a Senate committee podium.

Of course

Let's see, Russia isn't doing well economically? In the context of a generation of near-continuous hysterical demonization and a world-historic all-encompassing sanctions regime... not to mention a global semi-recession... here's the April 2023 update (page 9) for growth this year: UK -0.3, Germany -0.1, EU total +0.7, EVIL Russia +0.7, and EVIL China +5.2. And from page 36, GOOD AND BRAVE Ukraine -30.3, despite all its brilliant, star-spangled management of international affairs & the totally not-corrupt and democracy-loving privatization, fracking, union-busting, and gargantuan US aid/arms-trafficking. https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/WEO/Issues/2023/04/11/world-economic-outlook-april-2023

William

This is probably the most stupid thing I’ve seen yet. Understanding someone doesn’t mean you have, or do, approve of them

Magic Mikey

Worth remembering that The Kremlins stated objectives were not "conquer Ukraine in 3 days" but were and remain 1. stop Ukraine becoming a part of NATO. 2. demilitarisation 3. denazification None of these objectives have yet been achieved. Moreover, strong Ukrainian resistance and massive injections of NATO weapons and money have made achieving these objectives much more difficult. As has the rejection of the peace deal on offer in March 2022 by Ukraine and NATO. Unfortunately, these factors have also now made achieving these objectives a much more violent affair which will likely destroy the current Ukrainian state and many more of its young men. Its clear to anyone with eyes that the Russian state has the men, materiel and will to achieve these objectives, one way or another. The end will come as the Hemingway character becomes bankrupt. Gradually, then suddenly. One of the things I like about the western alt media (the Duran etc.) is because they’re virtually the only people calling for peace. If Russia will achieve their objectives anyway, there’s no point in dying trying to stop them.

Nicholas Levis

Regarding the apartment bombings, the book may have detail but this treatment is not adequate. No mention of the Ryazan exercise and arrests. (Doesn't that constitute a leak of sorts?) Who says Putin was in on it even if it was an FSB operation? MI6 and CIA would not have considered Putin an enemy to condemn for it at the time, and anyway, who says they know and if they do, what good is their word absent evidence--then or now? Did I miss the arrests and prosecutions? Have RF authorities ever made an attribution to specific perpetrators? I'm open to the idea that Chechen breakaways did it (and just happened to give Putin just what he needed at the time), as they were launching attacks in Russia, outside of Chechnya. But this presentation is not very persuasive as a case closed.

Karl Childers

i was into The Duran for a minute but the biography of the main guy on that channel, Mercurious or whatever his name was, the man is a legit convicted con artist and disbarred lawyer in the UK. i'll be honest, even knowing that i still don't hate their coverage, but imo occam's razor at this point suggests Mercurious is a morally flexible fast-talker who would probably be amenable to a Kremlin paycheck for online influence ops.

Magic Mikey

I don't think Alexander Mercouris was convicted of anything or was even accused of stealing anything. It sounds like he was disbarred after he had a nervous breakdown while trying to cover up his mistakes in handling a case. So I think "con man" is quite an unfair charcaterisation. If he is in the service of the Kremlin, he's often very critical and supicious of their pronouncements and displays no enthusiasm for or support of the Russian state in this war. Also, surely if we've learned anything from Russiagate its that Kremlin paychecks are far, far less common than we have been led to believe.

Magic Mikey

*Waits for my Kremlin paycheck for saying the above* Ka-ching!

Lewis

dumbass you no idea what russias objective was youre repeating state department talking points

SB

It is also possible that while internally MI6 knew all along the story was BS, it was indirectly funding public accusations by Litvinenko (almost certainly on MI6 payroll) and Felshtinsky for foreign policy reasons (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blowing_Up_Russia).

Jon Spiegler

My friend Mayer Vishner said when you confronted Tom Forcade the founder of High Times and cofounder of the Zippies on a lie he’d look at you blankly and say “Yeah I lied.”

SB

Sounds more like an instance of banal orientalism that is deeply ingrained in Western intelligentsia, even those that try hard to be open-minded.

SB

It’s long overdue to explcitly include in the Godwin’s Law mentioning of 1939, Munich, “appeasement”, and so forth. Otherwise, everyday is 1939 for these people and every leader they don’t like is immediately Hitler.

SB

A good interview. It’s a sign of the times that such a relatively neutral non-emotional approach is causing an apoplectic reaction among the believers in evil incarnate. Sounds like Short did a lot of digging to fill 800 pages. That being said, I’m a little skeptical (I know, before reading the book) that a Brit with still relatively shallow understanding of the culture can can correctly analyze the facts he had unearthed. His comments about Soviet people of the 70s only support my skepticism. But I’m curious to read his book regardless, just need to find time for 800 pages.

SB

I’m sincerely curious how he could write the Mao’s biography with Chinese culture being even much farther East than the Russian. If he could only collaborate on it with Carl Zha. 🙂

Nicholas Levis

I appreciate the 2005 link from the CFR, when even after Iraq there was still a small leftover of War-on-Terror consensus between US and RF. Can you help out with a news report or scholarship link reporting on the FSB's story about the perpetrators, their organization, how and where they were rounded up, etc.? Or was this an announcement that it had happened, without details? Thank you!

Nicholas Levis

@ Ander Pierce: "In terms of economic alliance with BRICS? Russia is doing pretty well. Then again, it would have been doing better if it hadn't invaded Ukraine." The new accelerated drive to economic alliance, a BRICS bank, Chinese diplomacy in M.E., open declarations for "multipolarity" thoughout the South, first de-dollarization moves, the massive shift in Russian trade to South--all this has been set off by the war and above all the nuclear sanctions with their demand that all must follow, and even send arms to Ukraine, or else. (Election of Lula also big deal in this.) Without the sanctions, it's hard to see so much going this far beyond talk all at once in such a short time. "In terms of actually winning its war against Ukraine? So far it is mostly just bleeding its own men for the 'benefit' of killing Ukrainians." Looks like at a minimum ratio of 3 UAF to 1 RFA dead (contrary to the 180-degree reversed Ukr/Western propaganda until recently). If so, yeah that's winning. If that's true, then the WWI long-attrition approach makes sense for the RFA. They're banking on Ukr collapse or regime change. Wild card being how far NATO would be willing to go in a rescue attempt. So far they have absolutely extended the war but the main idea has to been to shovel EU-US public budgets into the MIC-intel complexes. Stoltenberg's autonomous announcements that Ukr is joining NATO are a sign of either desperate bluff or psychotic break inviting nuke war. .

Welfare state

This was pretty interesting and occasionally illuminating, but the guy is an old Anglo and i want to cram a crumpet down his throat when he's being an old anglo about the russians not going to be friends with the Chinese because they are European.

Jethro Mojave

Squatted 405 while listening to this ep 💪🏻💪🏻💪🏻

SB

@Nicholas Levis Unfortunately, I'm not aware of any scholarship or even solid reporting on this. I thought it was mentioned in Mark's "Prisoners's of the Caspian", but it's not. BTW, Mark, the links on NSFW don't work anymore (https://www.nsfwcorp.com/dispatch/prisoners-of-the-caspian-part-one/6cb7e546ba52d42567ab0fe870f9c2784fb1eb47/#unlock-dispatch) Looks like in 2003 Georgians admitted that Gochiaev "might be in Pankisi" (https://civil.ge/archives/103247). The strangest part is that actually he may be still alive. According to this 2019 (!) report a cache of weapons was found with his fingerprints - https://www-kommersant-ru.translate.goog/doc/4027330?ysclid=lgvwnr9mzh393702813&_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=wapp. Who knows...

Koob

Hot 🔥

Koob

Thank you!

PW

You wouldn't lie about your gains would you?

Jim Vail

Putins war in Ukraine is about security for the Russian state and its territorial interests. US would invade Mexico should China install military alliance and bases along our border. But this war fought between US (Nato) and Russia over Ukraine is not the peoples war. Nobody should die to defend the riches of the oligarchs who fund these wars to protect their loot. Read Marx on imperialism and capitalism.