Vlad Vexler on Navalny, War and the Future of Russia | Ep. 12 Vlad Vexler
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- Опубліковано 30 чер 2024
- ➡️ PATREON: / decodinggeopolitics
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This is a conversation with Vlad Vexler, a fellow UA-camr and a political philosopher with excellent insight into the Russian state and society. We talked about Navalny, Tucker Carlson's Putin interview, why there is a lack of opposition to Putin's regime and what would it take for someone to successfully challenge him and many other things.
0:00 - Intro
01:24 - What Navalny's Death Means For Russia
07:53 - Russian Presidential Elections
11:13 - Are Russians Starting To Mobilize Against Putin?
18:43 - The Problem With Russian Opposition
22:33 - What Navalny's Death Says About Putin
27:27 - Tucker Carlson Putin's Interview
30:27 - Why Western Conservatives Love Russia
40:02 - Is Vlad Worried About His Safety?
43:21 - Similarities Between USSR and Putin's Russia
47:46 - The End of War
My warm wishes to the channel! It was great to visit.
great interview, thank you Vlad.
A crossover I didn't know I wanted... but a very welcome one
Let's give this video some more comments and likes. ❤
We know it costs Vlad quite an effort to sit and go through these talks.
I was a great discussion. Thank you both
Thank you Vlad, your comments are always precious. Love from London ❤
I’m Ukrainian and I do watch your channel Vlad regularly! Being in a 1% I’ll take as a compliment;) Great interview, hello from Kyiv
Privilege to have you.
@elezajic8435 no, that's not accurate. People are being drafted from all over the country. Since Kyiv is a city of 3.5 million people, it might seem like there are fewer drafts from Kyiv. There's still some nightlife, but it's only about 10% of what it was before the war. The curfew is still enforced in the city, so technically, it's impossible to move around at night without special permits. During the day, the city leads a more or less normal life, although it's periodically interrupted by rocket and drone attacks, fires, and damage to civil infrastructure and apartments caused by those attacks. But yes, during the daytime, you can sit in a restaurant, visit a cinema, or eat at McDonald's.
The same is true for the large cities in Western Ukraine. People are drafted from the west of Ukraine just as they are from other regions.
🫂
II'm glad that Vlad becomes more popular. He's one of few people who goes into the core of the problem, and not just news or esthetics or morally pontificating.
He gets into the core of being wrong
@@hmmm2564 betray your ignorance. have fun.
😅
Vlad is a legend. Not only because he is so knowledgeable about the russian political space (amongst many other things), but also in the way he shares his thoughts and knowledge with his audience. He really helps his viewers not to go down the rabbit holes of what he calls mindless consumption of algorithmic news feeds. He invites us to think critically and reflect on what the obvious crimes being committed by Russia against Ukraine, and why it is so hard to stop them, says about the state of the political systems we ourselves live in. Personally, I feel Vlad helps me to deal constructively with the rage I sometimes feel when I observe the ongoings of this war and all the actors within it. Keeps me sane and constructive, without having to feel I am violating my own principles and beliefs.
Philosophically, Vlad is like a wise grandpa. Imagine that your older brother annoys you by saying that a girl you have crush on, hates you in reality. Your mind is racing thinking: "does she like me or not?" Then grandpa Vlad intervenes by saying: "you put wrong question. You should think about your brother's intentions. Why is he saying this to you? What kind of emotion he wants to get?"
I got tangled in the endless news cycle myself, without a second thought: "what does it mean?" Vlad is the antidote for that.
Lol 🤣 this man got so much wrong especially about Russia. Like religion, you need falsehoods to deal.
@@mats8375lol wow you guys are foolish
@@hmmm2564 Thanks for the deep, substantial critique.
@@hmmm2564You keep throwing lame insults and no actual arguments under all comments that support Vlad. The way you spam makes me think you are either a troll or an useful idiot.
Thank you for inviting Vlad! As a Russian super interested in my homeland politics, I can acknowledge it’s hard to find a deeper understanding of what’s going on there from anyone inside or outside of Russia.
If you are actually Russian, it is hard to believe that you actually take his information seriously. He has gotten so much wrong
@@hmmm2564 what exactly
@@FallstudioYou probably won't get an answer to your question, as that poster is probably busy working with his superiors in St. Petersburg or Moscow - or somewhere in that area.
@@hmmm2564 ⬜🟦🟥 🤖
@@immortaltyger1569 yeah thought so already too.
To both I would like to say thanks for the high quality of work!
Vlad is the best expert of Russia from my point of view. I listen to him and live in Russia. I can say he has perfect sense of understanding of how Russia works. He worth ten other experts
Very kind!
That’s good to know 👍
Lol you are very much lying. There are so many falsehoods
aah I see, you are a freakin bot@@hmmm2564
@@hmmm2564 why don’t you just make your case then, instead of saying that over and over?
Great from Vlad to visit and promote, great conversation
Excellent conversation about the current events in Russia with implications for our whole world. I would love to see a continuation of this interview with Vlad Vexler.
❤
From the UK, I always appreciate the encouragement to think critically.
Excellent insights from Vlad. Very good communicator on the dynamics in Russia.
So you like falsehoods
@@hmmm2564 You're working overtime Mr Troll. Go back under your bridge and have a nap.
@@hmmm2564which parts were wrong, or are you not paid enough to detail this?
Think Vlad underestimates the effect of Kremlin agitprop on western society. Mainly this has a devastating effect on low educated people. I’m always astonished how many people think that Russia is a more social and lawful society as ours are, wish these people had to live half a year in this Country. The big misunderstanding is in the legal system: modern living is only possible with rights and equal ones. Russia today is far away from any type of legal system, it fell back in tribal times.
The fact that you believe this, shows how 'low' educated that you are
I think his main point is that if we give too much weight to the effect of Russian interference, we risk underestimating the domestic issues that are undermining our democracies.
@@marijo1951 Hmm, somehow right but somehow wrong. Issues are everywhere. The main attack on our legal system is corruption. And the legal system is the base of everything, see Russian issues today (Navalny, opposition in general, Silowikis, oligarchs etc).
Democratic order is a self regulative, if some politicians are overstretching the order, they’ll get voted away.
Democary is not a present god given, it’s hard fought for throughout thousands of years. The law has made everything possible, Hamurrhabi knew exactly where the way into modern society was. And any backdraft will lead into failure. Some states as Iran, Saudi-Arabia, Russia will only exist in the present way as there’s the bad gift of rich natural energy, and nothing else, this has destroyed or is the magnet of not getting into “legal” system.
Thanks Vlad for being a great person 🙏
A very good exchange of enlightened ideas.
The back and forth dynamic of the interview was very enjoyable.
Thank you for this « dialogue ».
Histroy gets dark....real dark. The struggle of an dictator is incredible. Putin needed to be very intelligent, have strong ideologies and have the capabilities of constucting a strategies that will take him there in this position. However, abilities decays with age. Like Mao and Stalin. The last days of command will be the darkest years.
Dying dictators bring about very harsh reality. Thats what history told us do far.
What a brilliant captivating conversation, thank you Vlad and Dominik so very much.
Thank you for background information I hardly get elsewhere!
❤ from Germany
👀⭐️⭐️⭐️ Excellent podcast as always. Well done Vlad 🇪🇪👍
What a wonderful session! Thank you.
The russian sign language for letter H (Навальный - Navalny) is an opened hand with the thumb touching the ringfinger (maybe useful if the right to speak is limited)
Surely the right to speak will become more limited :(
Or freedom of speach for that matter (it goes hand in hand, so to say)
Excellent discussion.
Great interview! Vlad is the best. Subscribed to your channel!
Same!
As always I appreciate your insights. 🇺🇸
Quickly becoming one of my favorite channels on UA-cam. keep up the good work! 🇺🇸🇺🇦🇨🇿
Conversations like this do real good helping people navigate the world around them without having to worry that their buttons are being pushed. Quite rare on UA-cam but certainly less so every day , in my humble opinion, and that can only be a good thing.
Always a pleasure the hear from Russia experts outside of Russia :) As a guy that acknowledges Navalny efforts in fighting corruption, i still can say he didn't enjoy a large support inside Russia as you might think. Certainly never was direct threat to Putins popularity (he was only popular with the youth), if he ever ran against him he would get 5-8% which VERY generous estimate already. The reality most, or at least 30% id say, understand the flaws of the Russian government, but we also understand what revolutions bring, where everyone takes to the streets and brings better times to the country next day. It doesn't work that way, what works is mortality and the natural order of things coming and going. Id wager each next president and government would be slightly more liberal, slightly more open. Its inevitable, because how the world is connected now thru travel and internet. And good life here is possible while that happens, because that's what ultimately maters most. Yea maybe you wont have a good time if u want to go in to politics or actual journalism. But other than that, life is good :)
Great interview exchange with Vlad.👍
A very good and engrossing interview. Thanks guys. Worked my poor brain to an enjoyable frazzle.
Great conversation. It seems like the Navalny brand is already more powerful than the man. Thoughts?
Thanks, good luck
Always good to see Vlad
That was so good, thank you.
Very good discussion-got alot out of this one and much to think about. Great channel too
Much appreciated
The "extreme" but still actually held position on Russian interference isn't that it was 50% influence rather than .05% influence. Rather, the argument is that in _super close_ elections, that tiny influence, just like most other individually considered issues in the election, was decisive. Similar arguments are reasonably made about Bernie Sanders' refusal to bow out of the Democratic Primary paired with his attack on Democratic Party institutions. For people that feel like Russian influence was decisive, there is always the presumed prerequisite of the American electorate being nearly perfectly split. It's not an abdication of responsibility at all, and part of why it gets so much play from the left is because of the bad faith denials on the right which imply that:
a. we will never be able to effectively address it
b. it's still effectively ongoing and causing political harm
An excellent analysis based on years of careful observation no doubt. Really good communication as well. A future brave political strategest may well benefit from what has been said here.
Vlad's approach is captivating. He systematically deconstructs everything in ways that I haven't seen anywhere else. His hunches also rings true, however hard to accept they may sometimes be. He's fast becoming one of my favorite analysts on youtube.
As. Russian, I think Putin’s regime has a lot of continuity with the USSR, despite their different roots and ideological foundations. When I lived in the USSR, I thought that Russia is under communist tyranny. But today I think that these ideologies are a veneer, below which there are very similar ideas such as Russian imperialism, fear of and hate for the western affluence and decadence, Russian unique third way etc. it is no coincidence that the security apparatus that rules Russia is a direct descendant of NKVD/KGB, ditto Red army, etc.
You can read the works of Pavlova I. V., who proves that the current regime is a modernized Stalinist system. She runs her blog on blogpost called "About Russia for intelligent and serious people".
She defended her doctoral dissertation on (I don't remember exactly, approximately) the USSR. She immigrated to the US in 2003.
I have a thought that Putin does things to take the temperature of the world or of the Russian people. Perhaps Navalny's death was a check on his opponents and to see who would rise up in any significant way that would threaten him. I also think he does certain things at times to demoralize his enemies. Why he did it, when, and how makes sense to him in the bubble of paranoia he's sheltering inside. Sometimes we can use logic and past occurances to understand his actions but a man like him who doesn't live all the way in reality is definitely a puzzle to those well adjusted in the global society around us.
Putin murdering his opponents could be as simple as a poorly thought out response to a question or a look that enraged Putin or made his paranoia ignite, or as complicated as some thoughtful plot he's been considering for a while. Dictators are dangerous, especially when they're not grounded in reality of the actual systems around us. A powerful man who can decide to push the global chaos button at any time for any reason, and who doesn't care about consequences is dangerous. Who can figure him out aside from the fabricated demons inside his own head and heart? Vlad can do it better than most, so sub to him! 😊
Lol 😂. Yeah, Putin is certainly a boogie 😅
Excellent content. Love when my favourites overlap.
What makes me pessimistic is that too many folks in western society choose not to believe that organised violence is something that will be used in ever increasing degrees by our adversaries. They'll do exactly what Putin has to make people think there's an easy way of staying out of conflict. I see it in the lack of preparation that's common these days.
Hello. Chanced upon the channel. Great interview with thoughtful questions. Was curious about Dominik's day job he alluded to if it is public.
Excellent interview, thank you!
vyborny rozhovory! jak se vam dari ziskat tyto lidi pro rozhovor?
love Vlad!
Really good talk, thank you. Greetings from Latvia.
Vlad is worth watching.
very good channel Vlad
very transparent and meanigful talk; highly relevant, especially the part about hurting oursrlves (unfortunately too many people in western europe are ignorant of that; in the us it seams some are fighting back more and more at least, I dont see this in europe; as they say: every people has the government it deserves) - thank you!
Thank you, this is so valuable to remember. Blaming the Russian propaganda means to lose confidence in the virtues of democracy. It means to empower those who want to destroy it a bit more. Instead, if we remember the historical streams outside Russia which lead to suspicion against democracy, we can take it into our own hands to restore the value of our freedoms. Some people in the West forget how special and precious freedom is because they have never lived in a different system. And the other part who had this experience and desperately yearned for it before 1989, seem to have forgotten completely what it was like to live under a authoritarian or totalitarian regime.
The power we would lose by blaming someone outside would make us passive. To fix this, we should be pointing on the every day life of people under controlling governments. We cannot stress enough how grateful we should be to have free speech. And remind those of this fact who slander about it.
As you said: "They use democracy to destroy democracy."
Never have I heard a more precise and shorter word on that.
It has been proven, multiple times, that far right political parties in Europe get financial aid from Russia
One for the algorithm, greetings from Germany.
This was a really good interview for introducing newer people to Vlad I think. You helped him stay on a more “grounded” path through most of the key fundamental issues here. From that perspective, as a “Vlad’s Perspective 101,” I think the other key things on which we could have touched would have been 1) The importance of Putin’s turn towards “civilizational destiny” as a cause of the war and 2) how differences between Soviet & post Soviet propaganda styles exacerbate the problems the west has understanding what’s happening. Great job, fantastic interview!
justification is not the cause. putin is still a master of manipulation
That pretty sums up my position...let's hope you're right.
Fascinating conversation!
Very interesting conversation and brilliant guest. Thank you both 👍
True vlad vexer
the Russians with the balls to protest did protest
but they are gone now
The hair is getting crazier with every interview...
I enjoy listening to Vlad on both of his channels, but I am curious how it can be possible to assess the real demographics of his audience? As a Russian living outside of Russia (as many others do), I don’t believe that UA-cam can identify me correctly based on my location. I watch both Russian and Western political experts and news and I have to agree that Vlad gives some of the best assessments in the English-speaking world. I struggle to find any Western experts who would demonstrate a deeper understanding of Russian politics (and its context). Most of them are superficial, lack background knowledge or comprehension of cultural differences necessary to assess the topics they try to cover.
Katerina Shulman is pretty great and she does videos in both English and Russian
@@dbwhab4150 I agree and I listen to her in Russian regularly. Even though in my opinion she used to underestimate or minimize the rapid degradation of the Russian political regime, I believe she is assessing political situation more realistically since she left Russia. I still believe that the amount of high quality English language political coverage is limited and Vlad deserves much bigger following!🤓
For sure!@@Lightmerk It is a bit hard for me to follow his train of thought sometimes because of his freestyling essentially, I lose track easily. And as she's an academic it is much more comprehensive when she is talking, since it is always a sort of a lecture. But that's probably just my autism speaking :D
Vlad made low key mention of apocalyptic notions in the Kremlin. I am bothered that there also appears no shortage of apocalyptic beliefs in the US as well. In their case it relates to religion.
I remember when US citizens raised up and overthrew Bush and elected a government which pulled back their troops from Iraq and few Bush to International Court. Same with UK, Australia and Poland. Good times.
The USA 🇺🇸 is currently undergoing a slow moving coup attempt. Speaker Mike Johnson is holding a revival meeting in Florida at Mar a Lago with Trump and according to Don Jr, his father doesn’t want the Ukraine 🇺🇦 Aid bill introduced on the House Floor and Speaker Johnson controls that. At the same time at the annual Conservative Political Action Committee (CPAC) conference currently in DC, the last two years held in Hungary with Orban as keynote speaker, Jack Posobiec just announced we are witnessing the end of Democracy and will replace it with this, as he holds up a rosary. The Republican Party is working towards a Christian Supremacist Theocracy that aligns with Putin and Russia. What Tucker Carlson didn’t realize in his interview with Putin, is that the Russki Mir doesn’t include him, it’s for Orthodox Russians only.
Lol you have no idea what is coming
They are Putins man i think they get money from Moskva.
China is not mentioned in this discussion.
How many dead fathers and sons will it take to wake up?
Navalny’s ghost haunts the halls of the Kremlin and makes Putin think he’s crazy for seeing ghosts and aberrations
They are not as brave as first thought
Russans don't protest because they have a well-developed sense of self preservation.
"When will russians rise up?"
"They already have in 2022!!! What do you think war in ukraine is?"
aka deep in the fox hole
They don’t rise up because they don’t see any sort of movements that are realistic regime challengers.
@@Acekorv they don't rise up because.... People tend to rise up to make their lives better. West honestly said that Russia should be partitioned, Russian people impoverished and suffering Syria and Palestinian style. Off course they don't flock to western cause. Who would?
Never
"When will russians rise up?"
"They already have in 2022!!! What do you think war in ukraine is?"
so waking up in hell then?
Ty for the vid,
as usually Vlad gives us unique view of what happens in Russia.
But as usually too, he speaks in a such high level, I am not able to understand even 10% what he says.
Sadly.
Ruzzians are in the mood "Make Ruzzia even greater again"
Lol he does that on purpose so you think that he is actually saying something in depth
Because if you do you basically have no rights, you go to jail where you're treated like shit by aggressive scum officers or even tortured, ffs, is it so hard to grasp?
Putin is in place by agreement, and will leave by agreement. The focus on Putin seems like a misdirection.
What future?
If pootie goes down, he will attempt to take the world with him...
Russia going on a war footing means changes to working and living in Russia. Moscow and St Petersburg as well. The outcome for me....if I was a Russian is to leave. The Borders are being controlled using FSB exclusion zones, but "going on holiday" seems still possible if you have the bucks. ? would get out the map
The Russian have the Pavlov síndrome DNA since the Czars, than the bolcheviques, than the communist and now the oligarchs and in the future other kind of ditarship, its impossible you have a democracy in Russia unless you split that country in 3 or 5 independent states.
well, that was... meh...
Viable alternative is there, but no-one wants to use it. What everyone in Russia hates - is Moscow. Moscow takes all resources from other regions and lives a great life. At the same time regions suffer with no money and low quality life. Put it into slogan, millions of people will sign for changes.
But Russian opposition is not capable to do that. It's because most of them are from Moscow, and never lived in regions themselves. They just don't understand that centralisation is a problem. Liberal opposition is an elite club from Moscow's rich living rooms.
That was then. Russia going on a war footing means changes to working and living in Russia. Moscow and St Petersburg as well. The outcome for me....if I was a Russian is to leave. The Borders are being controlled using FSB exclusion zones, but "going on holiday" seems still possible if you have the bucks. ?
What for? They like kgbism.
Im in OPPOSITION to Vlad,s views. It,s easy to see who,s interest and what stands behind it. I call people to scrutinise thourouhly this smooth nd seemingly truthful narratives.
Vlad should not be mistaken for an expert on this or any topic, given his total absence of actual scholarly research. He sounds smart, but that's all there is to him.
Putin, hard right? 🤣
These guys are delusional.
Russian system better that's why no one is moving to live in Russia and Russians trying to escape Russia, but can't because of blocks...
Wisdom says don't poke a mad man in the eye . That is what the woke democrats did to Putin. Trump ✝️❤👍😊
At 40 minutes: I don't want to waste time so I will spend 2 minutes chugging words salad instead of asking the damn question.
As Vlad talks a lot of BS with a tinge of truth sometimes, I watch just to take in his latest missive from the front of something or other.
Never.
"now seeing in the Republican Party"?? Now?? You might want to rewind to 2015
duuude "fascism a tradition on the left"??? What the hell where does the dude have his education from? Anyway, had to stop for that reason, sorry I know this well meaning, but ignorance brought us here
Hmm..when Russian will raise up?
The 2 last time they did,
Bolsheviks took over...
Soviet fall apart...