THE “POWER GUYS” RULE RUSSIA. This lead article in The Economist tells how the former KGB is now ruling Russia. They are referred to as “siloviki” or “power guys.” They constitute a new aristocracy which traces its lineage back beyond the KGB to the Cheka, which was the first police force established by the Bolsheviks. To quote the article: “‘A Chekist is a breed,’ says a former FSB general. A good KGB heritage—a father or grandfather, say, who worked for the service—is highly valued by today’s siloviki. Marriages between siloviki clans are also encouraged.” The last paragraph of the article quotes a KGB figure as deploring the “loss of professionalism” reflected in the polonium assassination in London that I posted about here. I wonder whether the assassination plot was conspicuous by design and thereby did show professionalism. One of the professional trademarks of the new aristocracy is, after all, the open and notorious display of power.
[...] last twenty years. I find that my reaction is pretty much covered by previous posts. I pointed out here that the KGB’s assassination of a political opponent on British soil was deliberately conspicuous [...]