Vladimir Putin's Rise to Power | NowThis World

Summary

Highlights

• Putin's transition from Soviet spy to Russian President is fascinating. 🔄
• His leadership tenure rivals, only Joseph Stalin in modern Russian history. 🕰️
• Early ambitions of intelligence work shaped his path toward power. 🎯
• 1980s cold war experiences deeply influenced Putin's political outlook. 🌐
• Putin's presidency is characterized by efforts to reassert Russian strength globally. 🌍

Key Takeaways

• Putin's rise from a challenging childhood to being Russia's longest-serving leader. 🔥
• His KGB career shaped his strategic political mindset. 🕵️
• Putin focuses on reclaiming global power for Russia, often through contentious means. 🚀
• His presidency is marked by authoritarianism and ambitions to expand Russian influence. 🌍
• Annexation of Crimea was a significant win for Putin's domestic image despite international outcry. 🚩

Overview

Chapters

• 00:00 - 00:30: Introduction - Putin's rise to power This chapter introduces Vladimir Putin's journey from being a Soviet spy to becoming the longest-serving leader in modern Russian history, after Josef Stalin. Elected as President of Russia in 2000, Putin has been a central figure in the country's leadership for over 14 years. Despite serving as Prime Minister between 2008 and 2012, during which he was widely regarded as maintaining substantial power, he has stayed a dominant political force.
• 00:30 - 01:00: Putin's early life and education Vladimir Putin was born in 1952 in Leningrad, now known as St. Petersburg. His early life was marked by hardship, including the death of his two brothers from infections and complications. He grew up in a small communal apartment shared with 6 people. His mother worked in a factory, and his father was a conscript in the Soviet Navy.
• 01:00 - 01:30: Aspiration to be an intelligence officer As a young boy, Putin was fascinated by the idea of becoming an intelligence officer but struggled with impulsiveness and lack of discipline. His maturity began to develop around the sixth grade as he started taking his studies more seriously and engaged in extracurricular activities, including martial arts. Despite these changes, his ambition remained fixed on becoming a secret agent. In the ninth grade, he went as far as to approach the local KGB branch to inquire about becoming an officer, demonstrating his determination to pursue this dream.
• 01:30 - 02:00: Joining the KGB In the chapter titled 'Joining the KGB,' we learn about a turning point in Putin's early life. During a career discussion, a senior KGB agent advised young Putin to pursue other paths such as joining the military or studying law, but explicitly told him not to contact the agency again at that time. Putin took this advice seriously and decided to study law. In 1970, he enrolled at Leningrad State University, marking a period of transformation where he became disciplined, hardworking, and athletic. During his time at the university, he also joined the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, laying foundational steps towards his future career.
• 02:00 - 03:00: Putin's KGB career and political beginnings In this chapter, we explore Vladimir Putin's early career and political rise, which began when he received a much-anticipated call from the KGB during his university years. In his fourth year at Leningrad State, Putin joined the KGB at 22, following a probation period. Initially tasked with monitoring foreigners and consular staff in Leningrad, he later served in Dresden, East Germany, a post seen by many as less prestigious for KGB operatives.
• 03:00 - 04:00: Rise in Russian politics This chapter explores Vladimir Putin's rise in Russian politics, tracing his roots back to his time as a KGB agent. It highlights how his work, which mainly involved collecting press clippings, informed his strategic and executory mindset in politics. Additionally, it discusses his actions during the fall of the Berlin Wall, where he allegedly destroyed KGB documents to prevent protesters from accessing them. The narrative underscores the significant impact of his KGB experience on his political ideology and methodology.
• 04:00 - 05:00: Acting President and early presidency This chapter discusses Vladimir Putin's perspective on the impact of the Cold War and the collapse of communism. He considered the failure of the Communist Party to modernize the Soviet Union a significant catastrophe, which influenced his worldview and ambitions. After returning from East Germany, Putin's focus shifted to politics, and he began working in the local government of St. Petersburg.
• 05:00 - 06:00: Putin's authoritarian approach and conflicts The chapter discusses Vladimir Putin's early career, emphasizing his preference for background roles reminiscent of his time with the KGB. It notes how despite his tendency to stay behind the scenes, Putin's political journey took a more public turn when he moved to Moscow. This transition was somewhat unexpected, as described in the narrative. Boris Yeltsin, Russia's first President, recognized Putin's potential and appointed him to the presidential staff in 1997. Within a year, Putin had impressed Yeltsin enough to be entrusted with significant responsibilities, marking a significant step in his political ascent.
• 06:00 - 07:00: Annexation of Crimea and expansion ambitions The chapter discusses the Federal Security Service of Russia (FSB), which succeeded the KGB as the main intelligence agency, focusing on national security, counter-terrorism, and surveillance. Vladimir Putin's rise in politics is highlighted, describing his ambition to revitalize Russia and keep it as a global power following the struggles of the post-Soviet economy. The chapter notes that in 1999, Boris Yeltsin announced Putin as his successor.
• 07:00 - 08:00: Current and future outlook The chapter titled 'Current and Future Outlook' delves into the transitional period in Russia during the late 20th and early 21st centuries. It begins with Vladimir Putin's ascent to power, initially as Acting Prime Minister and later as Acting President following Boris Yeltsin's unexpected resignation on New Year's Eve in 1999. This paved the way for Putin's official presidency through an election held shortly after. The chapter highlights Putin's focus on addressing the adversities Russia faced post the Soviet Union's dissolution, recognizing that this breakup led to significant challenges during the transition period.

Vladimir Putin's Rise to Power | NowThis World Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 From Soviet spy to the highest elected office in Russia, Vladimir Putin has now served as President of Russia for 14 years — and by all accounts he’s about to make that 20. Putin is now the second longest-serving leader in modern Russian history, coming in at #2 behind Soviet dictator Josef Stalin. He has been in power in Russia since 2000, when he was first elected President. Although he took a break from the Presidency in 2008-2012 in order to serve as Prime Minister, many saw Putin as still holding most of the power.
• 00:30 - 01:00 Hey guys, I’m Versha, and today we want to take a closer look at Putin’s rise to power and his ambitions for Russia. Putin was born in 1952 in Leningrad, as it was known during the Soviet Union. Today, it’s called St. Petersburg. He had a rough childhood: his two brothers died very young from infections and complications, and he ended up growing up in a tiny, communal apartment shared by 6 people. Putin’s mother was a factory worker and his father was a conscript in the Soviet Navy.
• 01:00 - 01:30 As a young boy, Putin became enamored with the idea of being an intelligence officer. But reportedly, he was too impulsive and undisciplined - he still had a lot of growing up to do if he was going to achieve his dream. By many accounts, the maturing process began in about the sixth grade. Young Putin began to take his studies more seriously and also became interested in extracurricular activities like martial arts. But his goal was still to become a secret agent. When he was in the 9th grade, he quote “approached the local branch of the KGB, asking for an
• 01:30 - 02:00 appointment to discuss his career prospects.” A senior agent told young Putin that he should join the military or study law, but quote “in any event, not to contact the agency again.” And study law is just what he did. In 1970, Putin enrolled at Leningrad State University. By this time, Putin had reinvented himself into a disciplined, hard working, and athletic young man. He also joined the Communist Party of the Soviet Union while he was there.
• 02:00 - 02:30 Then he got the call he had been waiting on... the KGB. The KGB contacted Putin when he was in his fourth of his five years at Leningrad State. And after a probationary period, the 22-year-old Putin finally became a KGB agent in 1975. After years of training, he was assigned to monitor foreigners and people who worked at consulates in Leningrad, before he was sent to Dresden, East Germany. Dresden was widely considered a backwater station for KGB agents, which casts doubt
• 02:30 - 03:00 on Putin’s own claims of being a super-spy. Masha Gessen, a Putin biographer and well-known critic, says the KGB agents’ jobs during this time was “mainly collecting press clippings.” Putin says when the Berlin Wall came down, he burned KGB documents so that protesters couldn’t get to them. Regardless of what Putin actually did during this time, we know being a KGB agent strongly influenced his political way of thinking - both in terms of strategy and execution. As a KGB officer working in East Germany, Putin saw firsthand the effects of the end
• 03:00 - 03:30 of the Cold War and the fall of communism. He once said in an interview that "few people understand the magnitude of the catastrophe that happened late in the 1980s when the Communist Party had failed to modernize the Soviet Union." The breakup of the USSR really impacted Putin in terms of his worldview and his ambitions. His focus shifted to politics. After returning from East Germany, he would go on to work in local St. Petersburg government
• 03:30 - 04:00 for the mayor’s office. During this time, people said he preferred to remain in the background, still operating more on a behind the scenes basis as he did in the KGB. But he eventually moved to Moscow where he would work his way up and become a more public politician - almost accidentally. Boris Yeltsin, the first President of the new Russian Federation, took notice of him and appointed him to his presidential staff in 1997. By 1998, Putin had earned Yeltsin’s trust enough for him to make him director of the
• 04:00 - 04:30 FSB, which was basically the KGB’s post-Soviet successor. The Federal Security Service, or the FSB, is the main intelligence agency of Russia, covering national security, counter-terrorism and surveillance. The external circumstances of global politics helped change Putin’s goals - he became a politician who wanted to fix things in Russia, as he saw the struggling post-Soviet economy. He wanted Russia to remain a global power. In 1999, Yeltsin announced that he wanted Putin to be his successor.
• 04:30 - 05:00 He made him Acting Prime Minister and then, Acting President, when Yeltsin unexpectedly resigned on New Year’s Eve 1999. So Putin ushered in the 21st century as Russia’s acting leader, which was cemented in a presidential election held a couple months later. It was during these early years of his presidency that we learned Putin was still focused on how the break-up of the Soviet Union had negatively affected Russia. It’s objectively true that the disintegration of the USSR led to a rough transition period
• 05:00 - 05:30 for many of the former republics, including Russia. His new goal became establishing Russia as a world power -- again. To that end, he wanted to consolidate power: Putin’s Russia has since become increasingly authoritarian, including limitations on free speech and the media and the arrest and sometimes murder of political opponents and journalists. Also, Putin sees post Soviet countries like Estonia and Ukraine gravitating toward liberal
• 05:30 - 06:00 democracy, as seen in the European Union, as a real threat to Russia’s power and world standing. And Putin believes Russia has a rightful claim to territories in the former Soviet republics. In 2008, Russia sent troops into Georgia in an attempt to annex breakaway regions in the country, according to experts. Those regions, Abkhazia and South Ossetia, both have a significant ethnic Russian population. But this quickly came to an end when the French brokered a ceasefire that dictated the removal of most Russian troops from Georgia.
• 06:00 - 06:30 Crimea was a different story. Russia successfully annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014. In fact the first round of the Russian presidential election in 2018 is on March 18 - the exact date that Russia annexed Crimea, which Putin saw as a huge victory and which boosted his approval ratings domestically - even if it caused great concern to the rest of the world. Putin’s main goal now is to continue to expand Russian power globally - at home, in
• 06:30 - 07:00 neighboring countries, and abroad. He certainly doesn’t want to see former republics from the USSR becoming more European or Western. In fact, the word “Western” today is often considered a dirty word in Russian politics. So what can we look forward in Putin’s likely fourth term? First - he’s ensured he will be in power longer - Russian presidential terms have changed from 4 years to 6. So he will likely now serve as President until 2024, when he will be 71 years old.
• 07:00 - 07:30 We should also be on the lookout for his goal of broadening Russian influence around the world - while news of Russian interference in the U.S. elections has dominated American media, experts say we should pay attention to what Russia is doing politically in Venezuela and Libya, as well as the Middle East and Europe. Putin still wants Russia to rival the U.S. as a superpower, and he’s stepping in where the Trump administration is stepping out. This is sure to have an significant impact on the world. So, you just watch the story of how Vladimir Putin became the powerful figure that he is
• 07:30 - 08:00 today. But who are some other world leaders you’d like us to profile next and why? Let us know in the comments below! Thanks for watching NowThis World and PLEASE don’t forget to like and subscribe for more every week!