Midnight in Siberia Quotes

“What we have,” Robert tells us, “is not democracy. It is imitative democracy. We have all the external signs. We have elections. We have a parliament. We have legislation. All the accessories of democracy. But anyone with common sense here knows we live in an authoritarian state. Putin has learned that if he offers the accessories of democracy, his regime can be very hard to accuse. The regime does one thing very well: It doesn’t listen. So there can be free speech, channels of communication. But normally in a democracy, those voices affect decision making. In this country that doesn’t happen.”
― David Greene, Midnight in Siberia: A Train Journey into the Heart of Russia

“Covering the White House, I certainly took my swims in foreign policy, attending numerous summits between Russia’s Vladimir Putin and America’s George W. Bush, who once famously remarked that he looked into Putin’s soul and liked what he saw (a moment when I could almost hear Putin, a former KGB spy, saying to himself, Got him!).”
― David Greene, Midnight in Siberia: A Train Journey into the Heart of Russia

“During this journey I chased a meteorite and touched a piece of it, baked in a banya with a drunk veterinarian, watched fat seals do math, and financially supported a regime that’s a sworn enemy of my country.”
― David Greene, Midnight in Siberia: A Train Journey into the Heart of Russia

“Often he would call to set up an interview—perhaps with an official. I wanted to meet the official in a place with rich sound. (Yes,”
― David Greene, Midnight in Siberia: A Train Journey into the Heart of Russia