Putin's games with the West | The Economist

[Music] garry kasparov is regarded as one of the best chess players of all time his success within the Soviet Union's chess team in the 70s and 80s has made him a household name around the world chess is hummus in transparent game information which is available for me at the board is also available for my opponent and vice versa it's about making projections what will happen the chess board five or ten months from now after retiring from chess in 2005 mr. Kasparov changed his game moving into politics he tried to challenge a new opponent the Russian President Vladimir Putin people compared many things such as you can feel just metaphor for all over the place whether in politics in 2007 mr. Kasparov announced he would run against mr. Putin in the presidential election but he was not experienced in the game of politics and it wasn't much of a contest he failed to secure a place on the electoral ballot he now lives in exile in America mr. Putin won that move but what game is mr. Putin playing with the West the idea that Putin is a great chess player is very far from reality dictators they always like to operate in secrecy and put as a communicator secrecy blackmail those are the rules of his game a game that is far more consistent with bootys habit this game of cards poker where you can start reading your opponents bluffing and raising stakes Illinois's in 1999 mr. Putin took over as Russian president from Boris Yeltsin as Eastern Europe transitioned from communism to democracy relations between Russia and the West improved but after the Orange Revolution in Ukraine mr. Putin became increasingly hostile he felt that America was meddling in Russia's sphere of influence in 2007 he used his speech at the Munich Security Conference to voice his angry criticism of American foreign policy Parrish ignores rain eternal Negron et pursue a wave Saphira give economic if political if boomin attorney Spherion na VIU's oh it's a dirty ambassador stone no come with the Padres America and its allies kept their pokerface [Music] speech was very aggressive but we welcome the dialogue and look forward to further discussions in 2007 Munich Putin made very blatant statement about his plans to recover the Russia's influence in the former Soviet Union it's a watershed moment were is it different in in language being used by both sides dictator believes that he sent a message and the other side thinks oh it just you know well were being tested in 2014 mr. Putin embarked on his most aggressive move yet annexing Crimea and later invading part of Ukraine in Crimea Russian troops occupied the streets but they had no insignia on their uniforms and there was no acknowledgment from Russia that it was involved Crimea went very smoothly all elements of the game being well-prepared Putin didn't care very much about Western reaction feed em taste of Kobe here because he really saw no reaction what do you need his attack on Republic of Georgia in 2008 mr. Putin had already tested the West six years earlier during a five-day war with Georgia unwilling to confront Russia directly some Western leaders blamed the recklessness of jaw as president at the time in the case of Russia's war with Ukraine though the West responded by imposing sanctions on mr. Putin's inner circle I guess that these sanctions was kind of a surprise to him it was definitely more than Canton expected in 2012 the United States drew a red line in Syria it told President Bashar al-assad that if chemical weapons were used by the regime America would take military action but just one year on the regime killed 1,400 of its own people with sarin gas America failed to act and it emboldened mr. Putin when the UN Security Council met in 2015 to discuss how to stop the Syrian regime President Putin was at the table and was about to call America's Bluff Assad had to go that was a bomber said now Putin wants to prove it and a bomber was wrong or somebody goes to New York with General Assembly meets Obama looking in his eye shaking hands to show in Russian television that he Putin went to America he tried to improve relations next day Russian planes bombed American battle position Syria in the US presidential election of 2016 the FBI says that Russia used cyberattacks and social media to undermine trust in democracy and help get Donald Trump elected how well first describing the elections the Institute of democracy troll factors that were built in Russia to fight Russian opposition to create faith needs 13 Russian nationals have been indicted in America for interfering and damaging the prospects of the Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton so how would Garry Kasparov play against mr. Putin he says that engagement has failed instead he thinks the West must isolate and deter mr. Putin and his inner circle through a strategy of economic sanctions visa limitations and seizure of assets of course we can call it though of course we can keep raising stakes but at the end of the day as long as we keep being blackmailed in the geopolitical casino Putin can be viewed as the winner of the game but it's a temporary game it's in our hands to make sure that his tactical games will be turned into the strategical losses so it's not a game of cards but it's the game that I know much better this is the game of chess and this is war strategy he's ever seen you you

Channel: The Economist

Views: 447,834

Rating: 3.6899779 out of 5

Keywords: The Economist, Economist, Economist Films, Economist Videos, Politics, News, short-documentary, presidential elections in russia, russia election, russian elections, putin, putin election, russian chess, russian chess master, garry kasparov, garry kasparov interview, garry kasparov chess, the economist, economist, economist films, economist video

Id: HkW205az1X0

Length: 7min 39sec (459 seconds)

Published: Sat Mar 17 2018

Reddit Comments

[u/Thenateo]

Overall it's a pretty good video but I really hate these super biased one sided hit pieces. At least leave some room for goddamn interpretation no need to shove your way of thinking down our throats.