Zhirinovsky's Russian Empire
- Thread starter Pellegrino
- Start date
Just an FYI guys, I'm working on cleaning up the old posts and getting them threadmarked. I had a lot of typos on the original (drawback of doing an update a day) and I noticed that the text was really small and hard to read after the switch to the new website. Also, @Taloc13 is, from what I can tell, reading this right now and I'm trying to get in front of him with the edits so he/she has an easier time reading this. He/she's almost at the Righteous General chapter, which I think was the best chapter in this TL, so I really want to get this cleaned up quickly. But with that being said the new update is 90% done and I will try and get it up today, or no later than this weekend.
Ah, I'll post this now so as not to take away from the upcoming update. Here's Alexander Lebed, as of January 2004:
There were a couple positions I couldn't find information on, so I took some liberties and made my own assumptions.
The VP: Who Lebed's running mate (and thus VP) has yet to be named. However, since we know from Putin's BBC interview that Medvedev is VP by 2011, and that Lebed has been "grooming" him for 9 years, I figured it was a fair assumption to put Medvedev in the role from the start. Secondly,
Defence Minister: It's not mentioned who succeded Lebed after his sacking, in either the Zhironovsky or Lebed cabinet. I didn't want to leave it blank, so I went with the idea that Lebed would appoint himself the minister, since he has held similar roles as far back as '91.
There were a couple positions I couldn't find information on, so I took some liberties and made my own assumptions.
The VP: Who Lebed's running mate (and thus VP) has yet to be named. However, since we know from Putin's BBC interview that Medvedev is VP by 2011, and that Lebed has been "grooming" him for 9 years, I figured it was a fair assumption to put Medvedev in the role from the start. Secondly,
Defence Minister: It's not mentioned who succeded Lebed after his sacking, in either the Zhironovsky or Lebed cabinet. I didn't want to leave it blank, so I went with the idea that Lebed would appoint himself the minister, since he has held similar roles as far back as '91.
Wow, thank you. I was just reading through the timeline and I'm loving it. It looks like it's going to shape up into quite the dystopia and love the 'after the storm' parts with Putin. Just read "The Righteous General" update and have to say it was among some of the most moving stories on this forum. Also, thread marks would be extremely helpful since this is a 200+ page monster.
P.S. Is there a map of the post Zhirinovsky world?
I just now realized this after nearly 5 years,but Mikhail Arutyunov, hero of the UIS democracy movement, the old man who was popular with the UIS youth, and the first major reformer who emerged as a legitimate anti-Zhirinovsky politician in the 1993 election...
Well, he looks an awful lot like Bernie Sanders.
Arutyunov's campaign photo
I just now realized this after nearly 5 years,but Mikhail Arutyunov, hero of the UIS democracy movement, the old man who was popular with the UIS youth, and the first major reformer who emerged as a legitimate anti-Zhirinovsky politician in the 1993 election...
Well, he looks an awful lot like Bernie Sanders.
Arutyunov's campaign photo
Berniov Sanderovsky?
Here's the third and final infobox I had planned: everybody's favourite dogged hero, Gennady Burbulis.
Having gone through this TL again, Burbulis is my favourite character in it. He's an idealist, a reformist and a democrat, but also fundamentally pragmatic and and with a deep, deep sense of duty to his country. And because so much of the Russian and UIS governments are lunatics, that means he's often forced to compromise his beliefs, not "for the greater good" but simply for stability, for a functioning government, and to have some sanity left in cabinet. This leads to him being constantly burned, and his personal popularity waxes and wanes throughout the story— at various times a Zhironovsky stooge, a Lebed stooge, a traitor, a hero.
I look forward to seeing his continued role in the Lebed government.
* The previous minister of finance is non-canon. There was no mention made of the previous finance minister, but I had to put someone... so I did some digging and found this fellow, a LDPR MP around the time with a background in economics and banking. Seemed fair enough.
Having gone through this TL again, Burbulis is my favourite character in it. He's an idealist, a reformist and a democrat, but also fundamentally pragmatic and and with a deep, deep sense of duty to his country. And because so much of the Russian and UIS governments are lunatics, that means he's often forced to compromise his beliefs, not "for the greater good" but simply for stability, for a functioning government, and to have some sanity left in cabinet. This leads to him being constantly burned, and his personal popularity waxes and wanes throughout the story— at various times a Zhironovsky stooge, a Lebed stooge, a traitor, a hero.
I look forward to seeing his continued role in the Lebed government.
* The previous minister of finance is non-canon. There was no mention made of the previous finance minister, but I had to put someone... so I did some digging and found this fellow, a LDPR MP around the time with a background in economics and banking. Seemed fair enough.
AFTER ZHIRINOVSKY- PART TWO: PLANTING THE SEED CAPITAL OF WAR
AFTER ZHIRINOVSKY- PART TWO: PLANTING THE SEED CAPITAL OF WAR
Some new names in this update:
William Roth: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_V._Roth_Jr.
CARICOM: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caribbean_Community
Zell Miller: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zell_Miller
Paul O'Neill: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_H._O'Neill
***
UIS Presidential Candidate Vladimir Putin in an interview with the BBC on February 2, 2017.
Discussing the Dominica Crisis of 2003-2004.
BBC: Mr. Putin, the occupation of Dominica by Russian nationals loyal to President Zhirinovsky-
Putin: It wasn’t an occupation. It was a legitimate election. The Dominicans foolishly allowed any Russian with $50,000 to become a citizen, just like they did with any American billionaire with $50,000 who wanted to avoid paying taxes. They made a mistake and the Russian radicals capitalized on this mistake.
BBC: Mr. Putin, the United Kingdom launched an investigation and they came to the conclusion that at least half of those citizens had obtained their documentation by illegal means. It was believed that at least 4,500 Russians may have obtained citizenship due to bribery of one Dominican official-
Putin: And are we to believe that the British were neutral investigators? That they didn’t have political reasons to want to see the Russians discredited? Nearly half of the new citizens obtained their citizenship legally: by marriage. Perhaps a few dozen, maybe a few hundred, had snuck into the country illegally. But even those Russians found Dominican wives. The British were trying to created the illusion of an invasion when it was anything but an invasion.
BBC: Mr. Putin, nearly a thousand Dominican women came forward in the days following the election and told reporters that Russian men had paid them to undertake “sham marriages.” There was even evidence that Prime Minister Bentley Norris obtained citizenship by paying a woman he hardly knew to marry him for $2,000.
Putin: Alice Blackmore-Norris chose to marry Bentley Norris. Although she didn’t know him long I won’t question her reasoning. But I find it telling that she has stayed with him ever since and has been by his side since the day they were wed in 2003. I find it appalling how the western media tries to slander her with such vile rumors. Implying that she is some sort of prostitute.
BBC: Well, it can’t be denied that the tiny island of Dominica kicked off an international crisis after the 2003 election.
Putin: No, it cannot. And I won’t even deny the basic truth of your statement. Many Russians felt disenfranchised in the new UIS. The ruble was plummeting and oil prices were starting to drop. Through word of mouth many Russians elected to start over. There is an old saying in the United States: Go West young man. In The UIS we started seeing similar sentiments arising. But few picked up on the significance of it. Few understood the whispers emerging all across the unemployment lines and the homeless shelters and even amongst the offices of the Radical People’s Party of the UIS. Few noticed when an eccentric billionaire whose empire of corruption fell apart with the fall of Zhirinovsky began offering to help Russians with “small business loans” and “venture capital”. Most assumed he was trying to influence the judiciary due to his charges of corruption. To make himself look like a philanthropist. We never realized that he was planting the seed capital of war.
***
Screenplay of the film “The Special Relationship” (2010)
HBO Films
Starring:
Michael Sheen as Tony Blair
Helen McCrory as Cherie Blair
Adam Godley as Jonathan Powell
5. INT. 10 DOWNING STREET, NIGHT - We see TONY BLAIR at a table reading some papers. He has a look of incredulity.
ENTER CHERIE BLAIR
TONY
I just don’t understand how this happened?
CHERIE
Dear, would you like something to eat?
TONY
How does a country of 60,000 people not notice 30,000 Russian fascists who just happened to show up out of the blue?
CHERIE
Well they said that there are a lot of millionaires who are citizens of these countries. Most come by, buy some property, pick up their new passport and move on. Maybe they thought it would be the same with the Russians.
TONY
My God, this is a mess. What should we do?
CHERIE
Well, what does President Bush think?
TONY
After that fiasco in Afghanistan who knows what he has planned. God knows the last thing he needs is American soldiers shooting Russians in the Caribbean when they are suppose to be partners in Kabul.
CHERIE
So he’s not going to do anything?
TONY
I didn’t say that. It’s just…nobody seems to be on the same page anymore.
(long pause)
I wish Bob were still there.
***
Excerpts from the book “The Dragon’s Last Stand: A Biography of Former Vice President Rick Lazio ” by Frank Ryan.
Published by Random House © 2009
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
By January first of 2004 it was becoming increasingly clear that the Presidency of George W. Bush was on life support. After his mishandling of the 9/11 terrorist attacks Bush had yet to see his poll numbers rise to over 33%, and by January of 2004 they had dipped to an anemic 19%. Bush’s cabinet proved to be even a bigger problem for his reelection, as two of his closest advisors, Secretary of Energy Dick Cheney and Secretary of Treasury Kenneth Lay, had been indicted in 2002.
Rick Lazio would soon emerge as one of Bush’s biggest critics in private. He feuded frequently with Secretary of State Donald Rumsfeld and Director of Homeland Security Oliver North and by the middle of 2003 Lazio began to openly court with the idea of running against his president in the upcoming election. The hostility towards Lazio from the president boiled over and by the summer of 2003 Lazio was completely removed from Bush’s inner circle, so much so that Lazio would learn from a reporter that former Montana senator William Roth had been selected by Bush to take over as Secretary of Treasury.
“Lazio initially denied that Roth had been selected but once he realized that Roth in fact had been nominated he suddenly became visibly angry.” Gale Norton said. “Not so much over being left out of the decision making process but over the fact that he wasn’t even told of the final decision and had to find out from a reporter from the New York Post.”
When President Bush was asked about the clear rift between the two he brushed it off, citing the historic role vice president’s tended to play in an administration, a clear jab at Lazio. But with the takeover of the tiny island nation of Dominica by Russian citizens tied to the deposed Zhirinovsky regime Lazio believed that it was an opportunity to save the Bush presidency, and in turn the Republican Party.
“Lazio felt that there needed to be an invasion,” Norton added. “He called it the Grenada Option: a quick military operation that could be sold for domestic consumption as a victorious war against fascism.”
But many in the Bush cabinet were opposed to the operation. Most felt that it could unnecessarily provoke the UIS, and it’s newly elected President Alexander Lebed. But although Lazio no longer had the President’s ear, he found an unlikely ally in Oliver North and the newly appointed Secretary of Defense Zell Miller.
***
Excerpts from the book “What Went Wrong: Inside the Bush White House"
By Paul O’Neill
Published by Benton Press © 2006
CHAPTER 8: THE GRENADA OPTION
George Bush said nothing as Director North and Secretary of Defense Zell Miller argued with Secretary of State Rumsfeld over Dominica. Miller, a Democrat, was a hawk but it was the forcefulness of North that most surprised me. North was one of the strongest proponents of working with the UIS after 9/11, and his push to invade Dominica seemed to be a complete reversal.
But by the time I arrived the cabinet was in complete disarray. Vice President Lazio had not been invited to a cabinet meeting in nearly a year and William Roth, who was selected to replace the maligned Kenneth Lay as Secretary of Treasury, died just three months after taking office. As his replacement I found myself in a firestorm on my first cabinet meeting as the issue of Dominica took center stage.
“Mr. President, the Monroe Doctrine still means something,” North said forcefully. “If we let the Russians occupy Dominica we are basically handing the election to the Democrats!”
“And what if that’s what they want?” Attorney General Harriet Miers shot back. “To force President Lebed’s hand? If we are seen shooting Russian citizens how do you think that will play with our fragile peace accord with the UIS? How will that play out in Afghanistan, where our troops are conducting joint operations?
Miller snorted at the counter argument.
“We have proof that half those Russians obtained citizenship through fraud! “ Miller shot back. “It’s a stolen election! If we let this slide you can rest assure that the phrase stolen election will always be attached to the name George Bush!”
The President looked tired; the last three years had taken their toll on him.
“What about CARICOM?” Secretary Thompson asked. “Why not have CARICOM clean up this mess?”
“The Haitians have made it clear that they don’t want any part in a military operation,” Director North replied. “They have a bad taste in their mouth from the last run in with the UIS they had. Jamaica is also out. So is St. Kitts and Nevis. They apparently have a large number of Russians who bought citizenship as well and they are now pretty worried about a potential domestic backlash if they take part. Grenada, Barbados, and Belize are considering a military solution. The Bahamas are also leaning towards a military operation.”
President Bush nodded his head.
“Mr. President,” North continued, “that’s not enough. We have reports that nearly a thousand Liberian military personnel arrived in Dominica two days ago as part of what is being called a ‘joint training exercise.” These are almost certainly Russian trained mercenaries. Also, we estimate that at least six thousand Russians in Dominica have military experience in Estonia, Croatia, or Afghanistan.”
”What sort of weapons do they have?” President Bush asked.
“Mostly small arms,” Secretary Miller replied. “AK-47s, AK-74s. No air craft other than some commercial jets. If we go in it wouldn’t take much to dislodge them. But Mr. President, if it is the army of Barbados and Belize fighting six thousand armed Russian and Liberian soldiers, well, I think we might see something akin to Israel in 1967. The Russians could win and win big, and that could force the UIS to intervene on their behalf. Lebed can’t be seen as letting 300 Russian patriots die at Thermopile.”
“Shit,” The President mumbled under his breath. “Can it get any worse?”
I felt a chill run down my spine at the statement. Famous last words I thought.
As if on cue I saw Press Secretary Scott McClellan walk in.
“Hey Scotty, what’s up?” The President asked with a forced smile.
“Uh, Mr. President, I think there may be a problem.”
“Yeah, there’s a lot of them coming down lately.” The president said with a forced chuckle. “Well, let’s hear it.”
“Uh, Mr. President…Dominica just issued a warrant for former President Bob Kerrey. They, uh, they claim he killed two civilians during the Kosovo Missile Crisis.”
The President chuckled.
“Well, we all know that dog don’t hunt.”
“I understand Mr. President but you see, they can still demand a hearing and, well, if it’s in Dominica, it may very well be a…problem.”
“So tell Bob not to take a trip to Dominica until this thing blows over.” The President replied.
“Sir, it’s more complicated than that. Dominica is a member of the British Commonwealth sir…”
I suddenly felt my heart skip a beat. I jumped out of my chair as I looked at McClellan. I suddenly realized what he was telling us.
“Mr. President!” I said frantically. “Former President Kerrey is on vacation…in London!”
Some new names in this update:
William Roth: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_V._Roth_Jr.
CARICOM: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caribbean_Community
Zell Miller: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zell_Miller
Paul O'Neill: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_H._O'Neill
***
UIS Presidential Candidate Vladimir Putin in an interview with the BBC on February 2, 2017.
Discussing the Dominica Crisis of 2003-2004.
BBC: Mr. Putin, the occupation of Dominica by Russian nationals loyal to President Zhirinovsky-
Putin: It wasn’t an occupation. It was a legitimate election. The Dominicans foolishly allowed any Russian with $50,000 to become a citizen, just like they did with any American billionaire with $50,000 who wanted to avoid paying taxes. They made a mistake and the Russian radicals capitalized on this mistake.
BBC: Mr. Putin, the United Kingdom launched an investigation and they came to the conclusion that at least half of those citizens had obtained their documentation by illegal means. It was believed that at least 4,500 Russians may have obtained citizenship due to bribery of one Dominican official-
Putin: And are we to believe that the British were neutral investigators? That they didn’t have political reasons to want to see the Russians discredited? Nearly half of the new citizens obtained their citizenship legally: by marriage. Perhaps a few dozen, maybe a few hundred, had snuck into the country illegally. But even those Russians found Dominican wives. The British were trying to created the illusion of an invasion when it was anything but an invasion.
BBC: Mr. Putin, nearly a thousand Dominican women came forward in the days following the election and told reporters that Russian men had paid them to undertake “sham marriages.” There was even evidence that Prime Minister Bentley Norris obtained citizenship by paying a woman he hardly knew to marry him for $2,000.
Putin: Alice Blackmore-Norris chose to marry Bentley Norris. Although she didn’t know him long I won’t question her reasoning. But I find it telling that she has stayed with him ever since and has been by his side since the day they were wed in 2003. I find it appalling how the western media tries to slander her with such vile rumors. Implying that she is some sort of prostitute.
BBC: Well, it can’t be denied that the tiny island of Dominica kicked off an international crisis after the 2003 election.
Putin: No, it cannot. And I won’t even deny the basic truth of your statement. Many Russians felt disenfranchised in the new UIS. The ruble was plummeting and oil prices were starting to drop. Through word of mouth many Russians elected to start over. There is an old saying in the United States: Go West young man. In The UIS we started seeing similar sentiments arising. But few picked up on the significance of it. Few understood the whispers emerging all across the unemployment lines and the homeless shelters and even amongst the offices of the Radical People’s Party of the UIS. Few noticed when an eccentric billionaire whose empire of corruption fell apart with the fall of Zhirinovsky began offering to help Russians with “small business loans” and “venture capital”. Most assumed he was trying to influence the judiciary due to his charges of corruption. To make himself look like a philanthropist. We never realized that he was planting the seed capital of war.
***
Screenplay of the film “The Special Relationship” (2010)
HBO Films
Starring:
Michael Sheen as Tony Blair
Helen McCrory as Cherie Blair
Adam Godley as Jonathan Powell
5. INT. 10 DOWNING STREET, NIGHT - We see TONY BLAIR at a table reading some papers. He has a look of incredulity.
ENTER CHERIE BLAIR
TONY
I just don’t understand how this happened?
CHERIE
Dear, would you like something to eat?
TONY
How does a country of 60,000 people not notice 30,000 Russian fascists who just happened to show up out of the blue?
CHERIE
Well they said that there are a lot of millionaires who are citizens of these countries. Most come by, buy some property, pick up their new passport and move on. Maybe they thought it would be the same with the Russians.
TONY
My God, this is a mess. What should we do?
CHERIE
Well, what does President Bush think?
TONY
After that fiasco in Afghanistan who knows what he has planned. God knows the last thing he needs is American soldiers shooting Russians in the Caribbean when they are suppose to be partners in Kabul.
CHERIE
So he’s not going to do anything?
TONY
I didn’t say that. It’s just…nobody seems to be on the same page anymore.
(long pause)
I wish Bob were still there.
***
Excerpts from the book “The Dragon’s Last Stand: A Biography of Former Vice President Rick Lazio ” by Frank Ryan.
Published by Random House © 2009
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
By January first of 2004 it was becoming increasingly clear that the Presidency of George W. Bush was on life support. After his mishandling of the 9/11 terrorist attacks Bush had yet to see his poll numbers rise to over 33%, and by January of 2004 they had dipped to an anemic 19%. Bush’s cabinet proved to be even a bigger problem for his reelection, as two of his closest advisors, Secretary of Energy Dick Cheney and Secretary of Treasury Kenneth Lay, had been indicted in 2002.
Rick Lazio would soon emerge as one of Bush’s biggest critics in private. He feuded frequently with Secretary of State Donald Rumsfeld and Director of Homeland Security Oliver North and by the middle of 2003 Lazio began to openly court with the idea of running against his president in the upcoming election. The hostility towards Lazio from the president boiled over and by the summer of 2003 Lazio was completely removed from Bush’s inner circle, so much so that Lazio would learn from a reporter that former Montana senator William Roth had been selected by Bush to take over as Secretary of Treasury.
“Lazio initially denied that Roth had been selected but once he realized that Roth in fact had been nominated he suddenly became visibly angry.” Gale Norton said. “Not so much over being left out of the decision making process but over the fact that he wasn’t even told of the final decision and had to find out from a reporter from the New York Post.”
When President Bush was asked about the clear rift between the two he brushed it off, citing the historic role vice president’s tended to play in an administration, a clear jab at Lazio. But with the takeover of the tiny island nation of Dominica by Russian citizens tied to the deposed Zhirinovsky regime Lazio believed that it was an opportunity to save the Bush presidency, and in turn the Republican Party.
“Lazio felt that there needed to be an invasion,” Norton added. “He called it the Grenada Option: a quick military operation that could be sold for domestic consumption as a victorious war against fascism.”
But many in the Bush cabinet were opposed to the operation. Most felt that it could unnecessarily provoke the UIS, and it’s newly elected President Alexander Lebed. But although Lazio no longer had the President’s ear, he found an unlikely ally in Oliver North and the newly appointed Secretary of Defense Zell Miller.
***
Excerpts from the book “What Went Wrong: Inside the Bush White House"
By Paul O’Neill
Published by Benton Press © 2006
CHAPTER 8: THE GRENADA OPTION
George Bush said nothing as Director North and Secretary of Defense Zell Miller argued with Secretary of State Rumsfeld over Dominica. Miller, a Democrat, was a hawk but it was the forcefulness of North that most surprised me. North was one of the strongest proponents of working with the UIS after 9/11, and his push to invade Dominica seemed to be a complete reversal.
But by the time I arrived the cabinet was in complete disarray. Vice President Lazio had not been invited to a cabinet meeting in nearly a year and William Roth, who was selected to replace the maligned Kenneth Lay as Secretary of Treasury, died just three months after taking office. As his replacement I found myself in a firestorm on my first cabinet meeting as the issue of Dominica took center stage.
“Mr. President, the Monroe Doctrine still means something,” North said forcefully. “If we let the Russians occupy Dominica we are basically handing the election to the Democrats!”
“And what if that’s what they want?” Attorney General Harriet Miers shot back. “To force President Lebed’s hand? If we are seen shooting Russian citizens how do you think that will play with our fragile peace accord with the UIS? How will that play out in Afghanistan, where our troops are conducting joint operations?
Miller snorted at the counter argument.
“We have proof that half those Russians obtained citizenship through fraud! “ Miller shot back. “It’s a stolen election! If we let this slide you can rest assure that the phrase stolen election will always be attached to the name George Bush!”
The President looked tired; the last three years had taken their toll on him.
“What about CARICOM?” Secretary Thompson asked. “Why not have CARICOM clean up this mess?”
“The Haitians have made it clear that they don’t want any part in a military operation,” Director North replied. “They have a bad taste in their mouth from the last run in with the UIS they had. Jamaica is also out. So is St. Kitts and Nevis. They apparently have a large number of Russians who bought citizenship as well and they are now pretty worried about a potential domestic backlash if they take part. Grenada, Barbados, and Belize are considering a military solution. The Bahamas are also leaning towards a military operation.”
President Bush nodded his head.
“Mr. President,” North continued, “that’s not enough. We have reports that nearly a thousand Liberian military personnel arrived in Dominica two days ago as part of what is being called a ‘joint training exercise.” These are almost certainly Russian trained mercenaries. Also, we estimate that at least six thousand Russians in Dominica have military experience in Estonia, Croatia, or Afghanistan.”
”What sort of weapons do they have?” President Bush asked.
“Mostly small arms,” Secretary Miller replied. “AK-47s, AK-74s. No air craft other than some commercial jets. If we go in it wouldn’t take much to dislodge them. But Mr. President, if it is the army of Barbados and Belize fighting six thousand armed Russian and Liberian soldiers, well, I think we might see something akin to Israel in 1967. The Russians could win and win big, and that could force the UIS to intervene on their behalf. Lebed can’t be seen as letting 300 Russian patriots die at Thermopile.”
“Shit,” The President mumbled under his breath. “Can it get any worse?”
I felt a chill run down my spine at the statement. Famous last words I thought.
As if on cue I saw Press Secretary Scott McClellan walk in.
“Hey Scotty, what’s up?” The President asked with a forced smile.
“Uh, Mr. President, I think there may be a problem.”
“Yeah, there’s a lot of them coming down lately.” The president said with a forced chuckle. “Well, let’s hear it.”
“Uh, Mr. President…Dominica just issued a warrant for former President Bob Kerrey. They, uh, they claim he killed two civilians during the Kosovo Missile Crisis.”
The President chuckled.
“Well, we all know that dog don’t hunt.”
“I understand Mr. President but you see, they can still demand a hearing and, well, if it’s in Dominica, it may very well be a…problem.”
“So tell Bob not to take a trip to Dominica until this thing blows over.” The President replied.
“Sir, it’s more complicated than that. Dominica is a member of the British Commonwealth sir…”
I suddenly felt my heart skip a beat. I jumped out of my chair as I looked at McClellan. I suddenly realized what he was telling us.
“Mr. President!” I said frantically. “Former President Kerrey is on vacation…in London!”
Arrangements with Commonwealth countries are set under The London Scheme and are implemented by the Extradition (Commonwealth Countries) Regulations 2010). Under British law he would have the right to a hearing in 21 days in the U.K. To challenge the extradition. But that in and of itself is a political hot potato that the U.K. Would want to avoid. So even if Kerry's isn't extradited he would be detained (or have his passport seized) pending this hearing.
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/extradition-processes-and-review
Basically the procedure is:
Requests from these territories need decisions by both the Secretary of State and the courts.
The extradition process to these territories follows these steps:
- extradition request is made to the Secretary of State
- Secretary of State decides whether to certify the request
- judge decides whether to issue a warrant for arrest
- the person wanted is arrested and brought before the court
- preliminary hearing
- extradition hearing
- Secretary of State decides whether to order extradition
So right now it is being "reviewed" by the Secretary of State for certification. If he refuses to certify it there is a political fallout that discredits the trial against Zhirinovsky (the argument would most likely be you can't commit a war crime if you only kill Russians or Serbs or something like that). If he agrees to certify it then the U.K. Is in the unenviable position of refusing to let the former president of the United States leave the country pending his preliminary hearing, which we all know will turn into a circus that embarrasses the U.K.
Even though there is a process in which Bob Kerrey can be extradited, for all practical and pragmatic reasons, there's no way that London would allow for a former US president to be prosecuted. Aside from a few of the most radical left wing types, it would discredit both the UK and the USA if such a thing were allowed to happen, and while Bob Kerrey might have done a few questionable things, they pale in comparison to what Zhironovsky did. It might be easier just to state that the election results in Dominica are illegitimate to begin with and as such have forfeited their right to demand such a hearing.
With the return of this timeline, I was inspired to make a few Wikipedia infoboxes— both for fun and to refresh my memory on key players' careers. Here's the first one I've whipped up, of the man himself:
![XijBiUn.png[img]](/forum/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FXijBiUn.png%5Bimg%5D&hash=146a15085222902ce4c7d9f7f9d35902)
Ah, I'll post this now so as not to take away from the upcoming update. Here's Alexander Lebed, as of January 2004:
There were a couple positions I couldn't find information on, so I took some liberties and made my own assumptions.
The VP: Who Lebed's running mate (and thus VP) has yet to be named. However, since we know from Putin's BBC interview that Medvedev is VP by 2011, and that Lebed has been "grooming" him for 9 years, I figured it was a fair assumption to put Medvedev in the role from the start. Secondly,
Defence Minister: It's not mentioned who succeded Lebed after his sacking, in either the Zhironovsky or Lebed cabinet. I didn't want to leave it blank, so I went with the idea that Lebed would appoint himself the minister, since he has held similar roles as far back as '91.
Here's the third and final infobox I had planned: everybody's favourite dogged hero, Gennady Burbulis.
Having gone through this TL again, Burbulis is my favourite character in it. He's an idealist, a reformist and a democrat, but also fundamentally pragmatic and and with a deep, deep sense of duty to his country. And because so much of the Russian and UIS governments are lunatics, that means he's often forced to compromise his beliefs, not "for the greater good" but simply for stability, for a functioning government, and to have some sanity left in cabinet. This leads to him being constantly burned, and his personal popularity waxes and wanes throughout the story— at various times a Zhironovsky stooge, a Lebed stooge, a traitor, a hero.
I look forward to seeing his continued role in the Lebed government.
* The previous minister of finance is non-canon. There was no mention made of the previous finance minister, but I had to put someone... so I did some digging and found this fellow, a LDPR MP around the time with a background in economics and banking. Seemed fair enough.
Wow, these are AMAZING! Thanks for creating these!
And that right there gives the Zhirinovsky supporters the PR victory they are looking for. Even if he isn't extradited, if you don't even have a hearing they can argue that justice in the West is a sham.
They probably would have thought the same regardless of what happened, so if they want to cling to their delusion, let them. That's still probably the least bad solution you could implement.