Putin Centralizes Power

Putin has already pulled regions closer to him by making their executives appointment controlled by the central government and has created a personally loyal military force. I missed the news on the centralization of Russian foreign and domestic intelligence into the MGB:

Two months before Mr. Trump was elected, the Russian government-connected newspaper Kommersant reported that Mr. Putin was ordering the concentration of the Russia’s domestic and foreign intelligence agencies into a new “Ministry of State Security” (the “MGB”) that would have the structure and power of a “KGB 2.0.”

It takes no great stretch to assume that the new head of this MGB was selected for loyalty to Putin.

I'll not sleep easily with Putin and his potential mental health issues concentrating more and more power into his hands.

Have a super sparkly day.