Summary
There's a new government in Kiev and Crimea is firmly in Russian hands. The political map of eastern Europe has changed dramatically in the last few months. But are Moscow's actions in the Ukraine crisis evidence of a long-term strategy to reassert Russia as a world power? Or are they the actions of a weakened government scrabbling to keep up with events?
Edward Stourton investigates whether Vladimir Putin, former KGB Colonel and holder of a black belt in Judo, is playing a strategic game of chess , or just a high-stakes game of poker.
Contributors:
Anne Applebaum, historian Anna Arutunyan, author of The Putin Mystique Mary Dejevsky, columnist for The Independent Valery Korovin, Deputy Director, Eurasia Movement Sir Roderick Lyne, former UK ambassador to Russia Sergey Markov, Director of the Institute of Political Studies, Moscow Vyacheslav Nikonov, Member of the Russian State Duma Gleb Pavolovsky, senior political adviser to Boris Yeltsin and co-founder of the Foundation for Effective Politics, Moscow Mikhail Smetnik, Official Moscow City Guide
Producer: Luke Mulhall.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Just before this BBC podcast gets underway, here's something you may not know. |
| 0:04.7 | My name's Linda Davies and I Commission Podcasts for BBC Sounds. |
| 0:08.5 | As you'd expect, at the BBC we make podcasts of the very highest quality featuring the most knowledgeable experts and genuinely engaging voices. |
| 0:18.0 | What you may not know is that the BBC makes podcasts about all kinds of things like pop stars, |
| 0:24.6 | poltergeist, cricket, and conspiracy theories and that's just a few examples. |
| 0:29.7 | If you'd like to discover something a little bit unexpected, find your next podcast over at BBC Sounds. |
| 0:36.0 | Thank you for downloading Analysis from the BBC. |
| 0:39.0 | For over 40 years analysis has been examining the ideas and forces which shape public policy in |
| 0:44.8 | Britain and abroad. |
| 0:46.4 | This week, in light of the crisis in Ukraine, Edward Sturtin travels to Moscow to ask, |
| 0:51.3 | what does Putin want? |
| 0:55.0 | At the number one fight club in Moscow, |
| 0:59.0 | Baccar Galibov coaches judo enthusiasts in what it takes to win. He likes to make it clean and quick. |
| 1:07.0 | Strategy takes too long. I'll try to find your weaknesses and I'll try to attack. |
| 1:14.5 | My attack will be to get you down as soon as possible. |
| 1:17.8 | When Vladimir Putin the next Crimea, the West looked as flat-footed as any blue-belt neophyte on the mat for the first time. |
| 1:26.0 | And ever since, commentators in Western capitals have been trying to second-guess him. |
| 1:31.0 | What does Putin want? Does he indeed have a clear idea himself of the answer |
| 1:35.8 | to that question? Good diplomats are often compared to chess players, strategists who take |
| 1:41.3 | the long view. |
| 1:43.0 | The former KGB man who runs Russia, |
| 1:45.6 | as all those bare-chested photo ops a test |
... |
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