Newsletters / The Rear-View Mirror 2016

To liven up the last week of the year, we thought we’d look in our rear-view mirror.

Last Friday, in his annual televised press conference, our beloved President Putin gave his view of the world. As a counterweight to that Russian fairy tale, here is what Mikhail Khodorkovsky (MBK) has been saying.

Summing up the year, MBK explained how he sees the country now, and how he sees it in the future:

“Above all, we have to restore the inter-societal links that are being systematically severed by the authorities. We have to help society retain its ability to govern itself and give young independent politicians a chance to gain experience and present themselves as an alternative to society.
“What’s more, we must have a clear reform plan and good working relations with international partners (not the current regime’s ties with individual corrupt politicians and fringe groups).”

In an interview with Charlie Rose, MBK gave his thoughts about thatrelationship, the one everybody’s talking about –

“My opinion is that Putin has already worked out the model that he would like to use with Donald Trump. He worked it out on Berlusconi. He’s going to look for some kind of personal understanding, personal relations along the lines of like ‘here we are, you and I, way up on top altogether just the two of us and everybody else is somewhere there below us.’  I’m not sure whether the American political system could handle this kind of style of relations.”

And in an interview with CNN MBK spoke about that other relationship –

“I’d say I don’t know for whom this is a problem. The fact that he [Rex Tillerson] knows them too well could be a problem for America [and] it could be a problem for Sechin and Putin. And the issue here depends on values. If Mr Tillerson in his new job will hold up the beacon light of values, in that case I think that Mr Sechin, whom he knows well, wouldn’t have it easy. Because Mr Sechin’s values are not just different, they are hostile towards the common values in America.”

In an interview with The American Interest MBK made clear how important it is that the country move away from its dependence on oil and gas:

“The country’s development needs to be based from the outset on the development of infrastructure and the housing and public utilities sector. These are the most important things. Later on, we should increase production in areas where we are competitive.”

Talking with Radio Svoboda MBK was confident about the future –

“I’m convinced that sooner or later tens of millions of Russians will choose to steer a course towards a European-style rule-of-law state – a state with a regularly replaceable government, an independent judiciary, local self-government, and the like.”

To all of our readers – well-wishers and Kremlin dwellers alike – Happy New Year!