Iran, Putin’s mafia state: How despotic leaders are buying power across the globe

Iran, Putin’s mafia state: How despotic leaders are buying power across the globe

In 1992, Vladimir Putin​— who at the time was deputy mayor of the Russian port city of St. Petersburg​— commissioned a film about himself called “Vlast,” a Russian word meaning power. In it, he argued passionately for the West to invest in Russian industry. After he became Russia’s president in 2012, he continued to project … Read more