We have the Sochi olympics and all the commotion that goes with it coming in 2014.

Gay marriage thingy in Russia. And generally a lot of dislike for Putin and communism in Russia.

I know next to nothing. I know that Putin visited the pope in the recent past and thought that was interesting. I think it is probably tied up with the whole anti-gay policy in Russia and i suspect the pope to make a statement to the christian community that they should respect gays as any other human being. That would make it easier for Putin to change Russian policy against gays. If not, I think Putin should really man up and speak out against homo-hate or he will lose my respect atleast.

Speaking of which, i really wonder how much power Putin has as president of a communist country.

With all these recent events i thought some of you must have an opinion. Share it here and maybe we can get a discussion going? I'm quite interested to hear how all of us think about the situation in Russia. A rising power, perhaps?