I'll begin with my favorite video. This video became my favorite because, on this memorable State Security Agents' Day (or Day of the Chekist) in December 1999, a young, unknown, and therefore not fully understood Vladimir Putin, in a flight of almost childish enthusiasm and sincerity, publicly told us that the forces of the former KGB (now code-named "FSB" for the sake of secrecy) had taken over the Russian government. And the enormous audience, which included the upper echelons of the FSB and other security services—because Putin was addressing chekists past, present, and future—laughed and applauded with delight at what was indeed a stunning victory over a naive country, a debilitated government, and a duped people. Putin managed to do what had been achieved before him for only a short time by Yuri Andropov (and cut short by his death): to make a transition from being head of the KGB (FSB) to being head of state. Notice how simply, distinctly, and cheerfully Putin reports to the assembled audience that the first phase of the operation has been completed:
"The group of FSB agents whom you have dispatched to work under cover of the government has been successful in carrying out their tasks during this first phase."
The second phase of the operation came literally several days later: on December 31, Boris Yeltsin surprised the whole country—but not Putin—by resigning and naming Putin as his formal successor and the de facto president of the country (with the label "acting president"). The third phase of the operation—putting Putin through the presidential election required by law—became a mere formality, a stamp on a document prepared long before.
Our first video clip is only 10 seconds long. These 10 seconds explain all of the subsequent history of Russia.
