The Survivalist and The Outsider

The next two personality types recognized in Vladimir Putin are 'The Survivalist' and 'The Outsider'. The idea of Putin as a 'Survivalist' comes from his background as the child of survivors of World War II, one of the darkest and bleakest eras in Russian history. During the Nazi blockade of Leningrad from 1941 to 1944, Putin's family remained in the city and suffered greatly as bombings, disease, and starvation claimed over a million casualties, including Vladimir's older brother. It is through hardships like this that the Russian ideal of surviving and triumphing over all adversaries has become so deeply ingrained in the culture and ideology of the Russian people. Putin certainly embodies this ideal as he has been through tremendous hardship and come out on the other side. He has used this trait to combat recent hardships in Russia, like the St. Petersburg food crisis in the winter of 1991-1992 after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Although his plan to use private companies as a way to supply the city with provisions ultimately failed, the promotion of the use of allotments for growing one's own food helped curb the disaster and the city was able to survive until things were fixed.

The Siege of Leningrad during World War II

Another trait used by Putin is his role as 'The Outsider'. The authors note that Putin's background in St. Petersburg (called Leningrad in Soviet times) has given him a sort of identity as an outsider from the political center of Moscow as well as from the families of intelligentsia or nomenklatura (those who occupy state administrative positions) since his family comes from humble origins. It took Putin many years of hard work to reach the upper levels of the KGB and it was said in the Russian media that he would have a hard time getting to power because he hadn't established the necessary connections and allied required to be in the "inner circle". This identity makes him unique in terms of politics because even in the United States, it is very rare for someone to get involved in higher politics that has no background or family history in the field. By understanding these traits and how they make him unique as well as a figure that Russians can relate to, it becomes clearer to see Putin's reasoning and intention behind some of his decisions.

Putin making important political connections