Putin made his name in the KGB as an expert in economic espionage in Germany.However after the G8 summit in
Germany he has overnight gained a reputation for economic cabotage among those who campaign against global poverty.
he was complicit,with Bush and other members of the G8 in essentially failing to live upto the promises made at Gleneagles and allowing many millions of
Africans to be deprived of the economic aid required to save their lives.His main detractors to date have been internal opposition forces who have accused him of anti-democratic behaviour.
He has also come under criticism for allowing a handful of Oligarchs to asset strip Russia's state owned companies and siphon billions of Russian money abroad.although most of the asset sripping happened under the Yeltsin regime,Putin has only taken action aginst those who he has
seen as a political threat.This has been a source of bitterness to many ordinary russians.the fact that the majority of thes new russian billionaires are of Jewish origin has led to a wave of anti-semitic feeling throughout Russia.one of these oligarchs,Boris Berezovsky,who has since converted to the Russian Orthodox faith is one of Putin's most vocal critics.Now based in the Uk
he uses his wealth to undermine the legitimacy of the Putin's reign and attack another open wound ,the continuing conflict with the people of Chechnya.The smokescreen of the Azerbaijani missile crisis aside,Putin's failure to recognize that with increasing wealth comes increased Global responsibility means that much of Russia's internal politics has become externalized.While much of Global anger has thus far been reserved for George W Bush,we will see a shift to other leaders of the world's richest countries including Putin.
