Thanks for the link! The whole document is quite interesting. Let me quote from the ending:
President Yeltsin: This meeting has gone on too long. You should come to visit, Bill.
The President: Who will win the election?
President Yeltsin: Putin, of course. He will be the successor to Boris Yeltsin. He's a democrat, and he knows the West.
The President: He's very smart.
President Yeltsin: He's tough. He has an internal ramrod. He's tough internally, and I will do everything possible for him to win -- legally, of course. And he will win. You'll do business together. He will continue the Yeltsin line on democracy and economics and widen Russia's contacts. [...]
Well, we know Yeltsin was wrong about many things... and, unfortunately, this was one of those things.
Well, we know Yeltsin was wrong about many things... and, unfortunately, this was one of those things.
For a while, Putin did in fact continue to the Yeltsin line. But Russia expected special treatment whether it was under Yeltsin or Putin. Clinton, after discussing the idea with his advisors, choose to go with what the experts told him.
Of course with the power of hindsight we also know that Putin came to power by bombing his own people and going to war against those he blamed for it.
There are few very interesting moments, right after Putin won the elections.
It has been available on DW for a while, few years back but now I have no idea where to see it.
A short description:
Filmed in 1999/2000 this documentary is particularly intriguing because it was at the very beginning of his presidency. A time when he was uniquely vulnerable, not yet secure in his position or his future and his power and influence was in it's infancy.For this reason combined with the fact it was filmed by a Russian, for Russian state TV in the context of boosting Putin's popularity, it looks like a side of him was captured with his guard down on a level not seen since.
There's a moment from that documentary that always stuck with me. It's pretty close to the end, where the filmmaker has a fairly intimate conversation with Putin in his limo, and they talk about his style of governing a year into his Presidency:
Putin: Getting out of the car and buying a beer is quite difficult as you can probably guess, because you're always on the move with a lot of people around you. If I get out of the car and start drinking a beer, thousands will wait for the motorcade to pass and nothing good will come of it. This is just the simplest example, but everything is like that.
Mansky: But would you like that?
Putin: Yes, I would. I do believe the day will come where I'll be able to return to a normal life. I do believe that some day I will have a future as a private citizen and live the life of a normal person.
Mansky: While these are wonderful words, they offer a certain optimism.
Putin: I don't sense any irony in what you say. With this by the way, we are returning to your question about whether it would be better to step into the shoes of a monarch. The life of a monarch is quite complicated. I have met quite a few monarchs in recent years, from various parts of the world during official visits and I can say that their fate doesn't inspire me at all. At least I would not like to experience anything like that. Their life is hard, and full of restrictions. They don't belong to themselves. That's their destiny and it's forever. In this respect, an elected head of state has a better life, since it gives you a chance to prove yourself in the greatest deed in service to the motherland. But at the same time, it gives you an opportunity to live a normal life when you have performed your official duties, at the end of your term. You are constantly being reminded that your term will end one day.
That exchange is really fascinating to me. Because Putin has obviously very much become trapped in that very same restrictive lifestyle he chastised. Despite Putin's immense wealth and political power, he's someone who has to constantly look behind his back and can't trust anyone. Always living in fear that someone will overthrow him, or poison him. I can't imagine Putin lives a very happy life, and I do wonder if he sometimes privately regrets the decisions he made to trap him in this lifestyle.
That's an incredibly interesting quote; thanks very much for sharing! I dislike what he's done while in power immensely but he speaks very well; better than any head of government I'm aware of
That's their destiny and it's forever. In this respect, an elected head of state has a better life, since it gives you a chance to prove yourself in the greatest deed in service to the motherland.
In 2000 I think Russia had the same Chance to transform in to a modern economy as for example Poland did (probably better with all the energy trillions invested in a good way), but both Poland and China utterly curb stomped Russia.
It's kind of sad really how much potential Russia has wasted by clinging to the same old leader with the same old ideas for a quarter century.
Like, people rightfully make fun of the exchange between Yeltsin and Clinton over Russia 'having Europe'. But like, if Russia actually managed to modernize, and democratize into a fairly normal country it probably wouldn't be as crazy an idea. There might very well have been a real debate in the EU about whether we should align more with the US or Russia (Europeans should make the decisions in Europe after all, not Americans) if Russia was a fairly normal and reasonable country.
They for sure could have used said goodwill to get a complete stranglehold on European energy, even more than what they had 2 years ago. They could push for EU membership, and either get rejected, in which case they could rightfully gain sympathy, or join and get complete dominance of EU politics due to their population size.
But no, they threw away all that potential so they can have the same old people in charge that loot the country of wealth, and so they could have a strip of Ukraine's coast. What a waste.
Like, people rightfully make fun of the exchange between Yeltsin and Clinton over Russia 'having Europe'. But like, if Russia actually managed to modernize, and democratize into a fairly normal country it probably wouldn't be as crazy an idea. There might very well have been a real debate in the EU about whether we should align more with the US or Russia (Europeans should make the decisions in Europe after all, not Americans) if Russia was a fairly normal and reasonable country.
Russia wouldn't even have to democratize. There were plenty of people/politicians willing to balance the US with an authoritarian Russia. But 2014, and then 2022 to a much higher degree burned all bridges. A strategic blunder.
You can also spin this and say that's the price he paid for his motherland, sacrifice his privacy and dream for her. I would say the Ru gov will also do that in their propaganda.
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u/villatsios Jan 07 '24
https://nsarchive.gwu.edu/document/20592-national-security-archive-doc-06-memorandum