Mikhail Khodorkovsky Quotes

I think it's inarguable that Vladimir Putin has been a stronger leader in his country than Barack Obama has been in this country.

Rather than living in a democracy, we are living in a benevolent oligarchy.

Once you've built the big machinery of political power, remember you won't always be the one to run it.

At the heart of all problems lies the politics of the country.

There is bound to be a certain amount of trouble running any country. If you are president, the trouble happens to you. But if you are a tyrant you can arrange things so that most of the trouble happens to other people.

To describe Russian politics as "managed democracy" - and that's sometimes hard for outsiders to understand, because a lot of the forms of democracy exist in Russia, so there are elections; there is a press; there is a campaign, and so on. But the outcome of the campaign is never in doubt. So the campaign is manipulated. There is a real opposition in Russia. There are one or two real opposition figures who do want to change the political system, but they will probably not be allowed to run, and one way or another they will be prevented from being on the ballot.

The president is the country's scapegoat more than the country's leader; the president has as much power as we think the president has. Whoever has the most money is the puppet master.

By the time you become the leader of a country, someone else makes all the decisions.

You have to spend your political capital on great causes for your country.

The statesman shears the sheep; the politician skins them.

The only successor to President Putin is President Putin himself and we could of course dream about President Putin stepping down voluntarily and picking out successor which would be probably as bad as him.

I don't think that Washington is a fundamentally bad or corrupt place.

Politics is the art of dominating men.

The state is not a supernatural being; it is the organised host of politicians, leaders and officials backed by armed force

But political checks will no more act of themselves, than a bridle will direct a horse without a rider.

Arab governments, at the end of the day, care most about remaining in power.

No man ever exercised less influence in the Senate or the House of Representatives than he, but no man ever exercised more power as a political leader.

To be frank, politics is about wanting power, getting it, exercising it, and keeping it.

In power for 16 years now, Mr. Putin and his global propaganda machine aggressively promote the idea that democracy is a chaotic mess that only the hero Putin can save Russia from falling into.

Politics is power, and communications is power,

In a system created by Putin, it is only possible for Putin to win. I am realistic about who will become the president.

I didn't have any idea what politics was like. I was surprised at how difficult it is to get something done. In the private world, if I have an idea, I just do it.

AAP's Punjab Convener is not a rubber stamp.

We never make editorial decisions with people who are working closely with Vladimir Putin, unless you consider myself a person who is working closely with Vladimir Putin.

The bureaucracy always goes with the way politicians go.