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Wladimir Putin (53), Präsident der russischen Föderation, soll seine Doktorarbeit nicht ganz so bewerkstelligt haben, wie es die akademischen Usancen vorsehen - und die Washington Times meldet. Und das ganz ohne Internet, sondern mittels russischer Übersetzungen amerikanischer Publikationen ...
Und soviel zur vorgeblichen Wissenschaft zweiter Ordnung, unter den Bedingungen einer zerfallenden Sowjetunion:

Western researchers have reported continual frustration since Mr. Putin took power in obtaining a copy of the dissertation. Mr. Danchenko said the Brookings researchers learned that a Moscow technical library had a text of the work in its electronic files.
A friend signed up as a subscriber to the library and was able to obtain a copy, he said.
Although it may fall short of Western scholarly conventions, Mr. Putin's effort should be seen in a Russian, post-Soviet context, some scholars said.
E. Wayne Merry, senior associate at the American Foreign Policy Council, said dubious academic credential building was common in Eastern Europe and especially the old East Germany, where Mr. Putin served as a KGB agent in the dying years of the Soviet Union.
"It was really quite common for an up-and-coming apparatchik to get a ghostwritten work done to obtain a degree," he said. "It's probably an open question whether Putin even read his dissertation until shortly before he had to defend it."