Just a few months shy of a quarter-century as Russia’s leader, Vladimir Putin, will sign a copy of the constitution on Tuesday, ushering in another six-year term as president with unparalleled powers.

Since becoming acting president on December 31, 1999, Putin has shaped Russia into a monolith, crushing political opposition, expelling independent journalists, and promoting an increasing adherence to prudish “traditional values” that push many in society to the margins.

His authority is so strong that other leaders could only stand on the sidelines while Putin began a war in Ukraine, despite predictions that the invasion would bring worldwide condemnation and harsh economic penalties, as well as cost Russia dearly in the blood of its men.

With that amount of control, it is difficult to predict what Putin will accomplish during his next term, both at home and abroad.

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As Putin Begins Another 6-Year Term, He Is Entering A New Era Of Extraordinary Power In Russia

The war in Ukraine, in which Russia is making gradual but continuous battlefield advances, is the primary issue, and he shows no signs of reversing direction.

“The war in Ukraine is crucial to his current political ambition, and I see no reason to believe that will change. “And that affects everything else,” Brian Taylor, a Syracuse University professor and author of “The Code of Putinism,” told The Associated Press.

“It affects who’s in what positions, it affects what resources are available and it affects the economy, affects the level of repression internally,” he said.

In his February State of the Union address, Putin vowed to carry out Moscow’s objectives in Ukraine and do everything necessary to “defend our sovereignty and the security of our citizens.” He stated that the Russian military has “gained a huge combat experience” and is “firmly holding the initiative and waging offensives in several sectors.”

That will come at a high cost, potentially depleting funds for the massive domestic projects and changes in education, welfare, and poverty alleviation that Putin detailed in his two-hour presentation.

Taylor believed such initiatives were included in the address primarily for show rather than to indicate a genuine commitment to implement them.

Putin “thinks of himself in the broad historical terms of Russian territory, putting Ukraine back to where it belongs, and things like that. And I believe them outweigh any more socioeconomic-type programs,” Taylor added.

Suppose the battle does not result in absolute loss for either side, with Russia maintaining some of the territory it has already conquered. In that case, European governments fear Putin will be tempted to engage in additional military adventurism in the Baltics or Poland.

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As Putin Begins Another 6-Year Term, He Is Entering A New Era Of Extraordinary Power In Russia

“It’s possible that Putin does have vast ambitions and will try to follow up on a costly success in Ukraine with a new attack somewhere else,” Harvard international relations expert Stephen Walt wrote in Foreign Policy. “But it is also entirely possible that his ambitions do not extend beyond what Russia has won — at enormous cost and that he has no need or desire to gamble for more.”

However, he said, “Russia will be in no shape to launch new wars of aggression when the war in Ukraine is finally over.”

Others argue that such a sensible worry may not prevail. According to Maksim Samorukov of the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center, “Moscow is likely to make self-defeating mistakes driven by Putin’s whims and delusions.”

In a Foreign Affairs column, Samorukov stated that Putin’s age may influence his judgment.

“At 71, his awareness of his death undoubtedly influences his decision-making. A rising awareness of his short time influenced his catastrophic choice to attack Ukraine.

Overall, Putin may be entering his new term with less influence than he appears to have.

Russia’s “vulnerabilities are concealed in plain sight. “Now more than ever, the Kremlin makes decisions in a personalized and arbitrary manner, with no basic controls,” Samorukov stated.

“The Russian political elite have grown more pliant in implementing Putin’s orders and more obsequious about his paranoid worldview,” he stated in the letter. The country’s leadership “is at permanent risk of crumbling overnight, as its Soviet predecessor did three decades ago.”

Putin is certain to maintain his hostility against the West, which, he stated in his State of the Nation speech, “would like to do to Russia the same thing they did in many other regions of the world, including Ukraine: to bring discord into our home, to weaken it from within.”

Putin’s hostility against the West stems not only from its backing for Ukraine but also from what he perceives as the erosion of Russia’s moral compass.

Russia banned the fictitious LGBTQ+ “movement” last year, labeling it extreme in what officials claimed was a fight for traditional values such as those promoted by the Russian Orthodox Church against Western influence. Courts also prohibited gender transformation.

“I would expect the role of the Russian Orthodox Church to continue to be quite visible,” Taylor said. He also mentioned the social media anger that erupted during a party held by TV presenter Anastasia Ivleeva, in which guests were urged to arrive “almost naked.”

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As Putin Begins Another 6-Year Term, He Is Entering A New Era Of Extraordinary Power In Russia

“Other actors in the system understand that that stuff resonates with Putin. … There were people interested in exploiting things like that,” he went on to say.

Although the opposition and independent media have nearly evaporated as a result of Putin’s repressive actions, there is still room for future movements to dominate Russia’s information space, such as continuing efforts to construct a “sovereign internet.”

The inauguration takes place two days before Victory Day, Russia’s most important secular festival honoring the Soviet Red Army’s seizure of Berlin in World War II and the war’s terrible difficulties, which cost the USSR around 20 million people.

The defeat of Nazi Germany is important to modern Russia’s character, as is Putin’s justification of the war in Ukraine as an analogous conflict.

SOURCE – (AP)

Kibbutz Mefalsim, Israel — When Hamas fighters entered southern Israel on October 7, the Islamist group that runs the Gaza Strip carried out the worst attack against Jews since the Holocaust.

So this year’s Holocaust Remembrance Day, which begins on Sunday evening in Israel, bears greater significance for many Jews around the world.

The tragedies of October 7 motivated Judith Tzamir, a Holocaust survivor from Germany who emigrated to Israel in 1964, to celebrate the melancholy anniversary by making a journey to Auschwitz, the Nazi concentration camp in Poland, which she had previously avoided.

Tzamir, whose kibbutz fended off Hamas attacks on October 7, will march alongside 55 other Holocaust survivors from throughout the world, as well as over 10,000 others. The event recreates the 2-mile (3-kilometer) march from Auschwitz to Birkenau, where Nazi Germany murdered an estimated 1 million Jews.

Now in its 36th year, the event often attracts thousands of attendees, including Holocaust survivors, Jewish students, leaders, and politicians. This year’s march will include Israeli captives who have been released from captivity in Gaza, as well as families whose relatives are still held captive.

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A Holocaust Survivor Will Mark That History Differently After The Horrors Of Oct. 7

“I’m not sure if the world will listen, but it’s important to me,” said Tzamir, who has previously declined invitations to visit Auschwitz. “To remember that there’s still antisemitism around, and there are still people who will kill just for religious reasons.”

Holocaust Remembrance Day observed on the anniversary of the commencement of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, has traditionally been a moment for Israelis to assemble and hear testimony from survivors.

It is one of the most solemn days of the year, with a two-minute siren that stops traffic and causes people to stand at attention in remembrance of the victims. Memorial services are held throughout the day, and the names of the victims are read aloud. While Israel’s official Holocaust memorial, Yad Vashem, strives to avoid politics, this year’s event has an empty yellow chair in solidarity with the Israeli captives still held in Gaza.

When Tzamir was 4 1/2 years old, her parents dressed her in a light blue frock, black shoes, and white socks and took her to a plaza in Berlin. She recalls clutching her doll, Yula, as they revealed that they were not her parents and that the woman standing in front of them was her biological mother.

Tzamir’s mother served in the German Wehrmacht during World War II, concealing her Jewish origins. She gave birth to Judith in 1943 at a nun-run hospital, then abandoned her to save her own life. At the time, Tzamir, known as Donata, was placed in a foster household. She didn’t know she was Jewish until she met her mother.

Tzamir traveled to Mefalsim, a kibbutz in southern Israel on the Gaza border, through a student exchange program sixteen years later while in college. Following her studies, she returned to Mefalsim, fell in love with a new immigrant from Argentina living on the kibbutz, and stayed to have four children.

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A Holocaust Survivor Will Mark That History Differently After The Horrors Of Oct. 7

On October 7, Tzamir faced the danger of losing her home again. Hamas militants crossed the border from Gaza and targeted cities, army bases, and a music festival in southern Israel. Mefalsim was fortunate compared to many other kibbutzim in the area, where militants torched homes and caused widespread devastation.

That day, the militants slaughtered over 1,200 individuals, the majority of whom were civilians, and kidnapped another 250. The incident precipitated Israel’s invasion of Gaza, in which the death toll has risen to more than 34,500 people, according to local health officials, and over 80% of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents have fled their homes. The high death toll and humanitarian catastrophe have generated genocide claims against Israel before the International Court of Justice, which Israel vigorously denies.

Hamas has stated that their attack was intended at the Israeli occupation and blockade of Gaza, while pro-Palestinian groups have denied any antisemitic motivations in their opposition to Israel’s military offensive. For most Jewish Israelis, global rallies calling for boycotts of Israel and challenging the country’s right to exist frequently devolve into antisemitism.

On the day of the attack, Mefalsim’s emergency readiness squad managed to keep the majority of the Hamas terrorists outside the kibbutz fence. Many inhabitants remained in secure rooms for nearly 24 hours before the Israeli army was able to remove them the following day.

Although no one was killed at Mefalsim, the town’s approximately 800 residents, as well as more than 120,000 Israelis who resided within a few kilometers of the Gaza and Lebanon borders, were ordered to evacuate. Mefalsim, Tzamir’s constant anchor after a turbulent upbringing, was no longer a haven.

Many Mefalsim residents have been living in a hotel north of Tel Aviv for the past seven months, unsure of their next steps, but Tzamir and others plan to return to the kibbutz in June.

Tzamir said the October 7 attack brought back memories of her childhood trauma. She was able to function during the day, but when she went to bed, her dreams were filled with blood, death, and fire, reminiscent of the bombs she watched as a child in Germany.

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A Holocaust Survivor Will Mark That History Differently After The Horrors Of Oct. 7

Tzamir is one of about 2,000 Holocaust survivors in Israel who were forced to flee their homes due to the conflict in Gaza, according to Israel’s Ministry of Welfare and Social Affairs. The government believes that 132,000 Holocaust survivors exist in Israel.

Tzamir has known every resident of her kibbutz for 13 years, having served as its director. She stated that some families may never return to Mefalsim within one mile (1.4 kilometers) from the Gaza border. Explosions from Gaza ricochet throughout the buildings, and a sense of security is difficult to regain.

But that was never a question for her, she explained.

“I’m 80 years old, and I don’t want to lose my home again,” Tzamir remarked as her husband Ran worked on a garden brimming with succulents and flowers just before their journey to Poland. “We are coming back.”

SOURCE – (AP)

LONDON — King Charles III’s decision to be candid about his cancer condition has helped the new monarch connect with the British people and strengthened the monarchy in the year since his glittering coronation at Westminster Abbey.

Charles has utilized his sickness to highlight the importance of early diagnosis and treatment, demonstrating leadership during personal pain. In the process, people have come to regard him as a more real-life character who faces the same issues as them rather than just an archetype of money and luxury.

“Ultimately, the great leveler is health,” said Anna Whitelock, a professor of monarchical history at City University in London. “The royal family, like many other families, is dealing with a cancer diagnosis. “And I believe that has taken the energy out of major challenges to the king.”

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King Charles III’s Openness About Cancer Has Helped Him Connect With People In Year After Coronation

Questions remain. Can a 1,000-year-old inherited monarchy represent modern Britain? How will the institution respond to criticism about its ties to imperialism and slavery? Should an elected head of state replace the monarchy?

However, for the time being, such difficulties have been largely left aside as the 75-year-old king receives treatment for an unnamed type of cancer.

Of all the issues experts predicted the royal family would encounter in the year following Charles’ coronation, the events of the previous five months have taken Britain by surprise.

Charles was first treated for an enlarged prostate, after which he revealed his cancer diagnosis. The news that Kate, the Princess of Wales and Prince William’s wife, also had cancer followed this.

Both withdrew from public service to focus on their health. William followed suit to support his wife and the couple’s three small children.

The septuagenarian monarch was unwell, and so was the much younger future queen. Her husband needs to help out. Suddenly, the royal family appeared much more vulnerable and human.

With three senior royals out of the picture, the Windsors were stretched thin as they attempted to keep up with the never-ending whirlwind of ceremonial appearances, awards presentations, and ribbon cuttings that comprise modern royal life.

Queen Camilla stepped into the breach.

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King Charles III’s Openness About Cancer Has Helped Him Connect With People In Year After Coronation

Camilla was once regarded as a scourge of the House of Windsor due to her role in the dissolution of Charles’ marriage to the late Princess Diana, but she has since emerged as one of the monarchy’s most famous ambassadors. The queen’s increased appearance schedule helped keep the royal family in the public eye.

Wherever she traveled, royal fans sent get-well cards and encouragement to Charles and Kate.

Whitelock explained that, in many ways, the story of Charles’ first year since his coronation is about Camilla’s ascension and how effective she has been in portraying the monarch.

“The crowds reaching out to her have been quite remarkable,” she remarked. “So I think this first year has very much been the reign of Charles and Camilla in a way that we would never have imagined.”

They worked together to produce a year of stability for the monarchy despite some opponents’ expectations that Queen Elizabeth II’s death would usher in a period of change.

That does not imply Charles is without problems; many come from inside his family.

The king’s relationship with his younger son was strained even before Prince Harry and his wife Meghan abandoned royal duties and relocated to California in 2020. But the publication early last year of Harry’s bombshell memoir, “Spare,” worsened the rift with revelations about the royal family’s unconscious racism and sweetheart agreements with the tabloid press.

Then there’s Charles’ brother, Prince Andrew, whose ties to the late sex criminal Jeffrey Epstein continue to generate problems for the king. Last month, Netflix released a full-length film on the disastrous 2019 interview in which Andrew attempted to justify his relationship with Epstein.

However, over the last year, Charles has pushed to increase transparency about the monarchy’s operations, spoken out on environmental issues, and promoted interfaith dialogue, according to George Gross, a royal historian at King’s College London.

The king then decided to make his health difficulties public to illustrate the benefits of early intervention in a country where cancer survival rates are lower than in many other wealthy nations.

“He’s overcome difficulties. It’s incorrect to imply he’s taken advantage of it, since it’s a terrible situation to be in, and anyone with a cancer diagnosis will be really frightened,” Gross added. “But it has been this way that, as a head of state, he’s been able to do good with a very simple message, and I think that’s an extraordinary thing.”

Charles emphasized his message last week when he began his return to public life with a visit to a cancer facility.

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King Charles III’s Openness About Cancer Has Helped Him Connect With People In Year After Coronation

While touring the University College Hospital Macmillan Cancer Centre in central London, the king sat with Lesley Woodbridge, a 63-year-old cancer patient, and held her hand as chemotherapy medications slowly flowed into her arm.

“It’s always a bit of a shock, isn’t it, when they tell you?” He said, “I’ve got to have my treatment this afternoon as well.”

It’s the kind of personal connection that Britons don’t anticipate from the royals, who are famed for their reserved demeanor rather than their heart.

According to Michelle Mitchell, the charity’s CEO, after the king’s announcement of his illness, Cancer Research UK saw a 33% spike in website views as individuals looked for information about cancer symptoms.

That might have saved lives. And it brought people closer to the king.Mitchell noted how personal the king’s visit to the oncology clinic was.

She added that patients gladly shared their cancer stories with Charles and Camilla, and the royal couple answered with personal information about their own journey.

“I observed not just empathy, but true compassion,” Mitchell stated. “And overall, the atmosphere of the day was one of hope — but hope, I think, framed with the importance of research bringing greater progress.”

SOURCE – (AP)