hi faul,
there may be some truth to what you say. it is right on the frontier of two different models. putin's autocratic model and western models of democracy.
i hope the people get to elect their own person in may. i see democratic models as messy but i prefer them to straight hierarchies.
ukraine is vulnerable to interference from outsiders.
their long run hope is that the russian people decide to embrace a system in which different ideas compete. for russia itself. and then for those around russia.
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