Because they are in the business of selling magazines, and after careful weighing of all of the options, they made a good business decision that Putin as Man of the Year will sell the most magazines.
I don’t know… they probably could have sold more by making it a collectors edition for all those Harry Potter fans.
I think they make a good point, Russia hasn’t yet found it’s way after the collapse of communism. There is a resurgent nationalism, and greater influence for the Russian Orthodox Church–but it is as if this hearkening back to some idealized version of Russian history is also affecting the perception of the present. Even while governmental institutions begin once again to interact with the Orthodox Church, one gets the sense that the secularization that spread during the Soviet era is very difficult to combat and that isn’t being acknowledged. Also, there are the tensions–some justified, others not–between the Orthodox Church and other Christian bodies, particularly the Roman Catholic Church.
But, I’m just an interested observer, and not an expert…
Because they are in the business of selling magazines, and after careful weighing of all of the options, they made a good business decision that Putin as Man of the Year will sell the most magazines.
BillS,
I don’t know… they probably could have sold more by making it a collectors edition for all those Harry Potter fans.
I think they make a good point, Russia hasn’t yet found it’s way after the collapse of communism. There is a resurgent nationalism, and greater influence for the Russian Orthodox Church–but it is as if this hearkening back to some idealized version of Russian history is also affecting the perception of the present. Even while governmental institutions begin once again to interact with the Orthodox Church, one gets the sense that the secularization that spread during the Soviet era is very difficult to combat and that isn’t being acknowledged. Also, there are the tensions–some justified, others not–between the Orthodox Church and other Christian bodies, particularly the Roman Catholic Church.
But, I’m just an interested observer, and not an expert…