Word: kasparov
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Having established himself as one of the greatest chess masters of all time, Kasparov is an underdog again. As a leader of the Other Russia, a coalition of opponents to the government of Vladimir Putin, Kasparov has become Russia's most conspicuous political gadfly--a symbol of the sense that as the world prepares for the end of the Putin period (presidential elections are due to be held in March 2008, and under the Russian constitution, Putin cannot stand for a third term), all is not well in Russia. The Other Russia has been holding a series of protest marches...
...during the Soviet era of gulags and totalitarianism. But Russia's political system is dominated by a military-industrial-security complex, many of whose members (like Putin) have roots in the old KGB and seem determined to maintain control of the nation's natural resources for their own benefit. Kasparov doesn't believe Russia's leaders are readying themselves for a new cold war with the West; Russia can't instigate another such struggle. Today's motivating ideology, Kasparov says, is "Let's steal together...
...Kasparov, you might say, has been enveloped by politics all his life. Being a Soviet chess prodigy will do that for you. Born in Baku, Azerbaijan, in 1963, he started playing chess before he was 5. After his father died when he was 7, Kasparov's mother Clara--whose last name he took--shepherded his career. (She still does. When TIME interviewed Kasparov at their spacious, Soviet-era apartment in Moscow recently, it was Clara who kept an eye on the clock and reminded Kasparov of his next appointment.) As he grew up, Kasparov says, he became aware...
...Kasparov and some other dissidents, the original sin of the new Russia was the 1996 presidential election, in which--with the help of massive injections of funds from business oligarchs--Boris Yeltsin won re-election over Gennady Zyuganov, the Communists' leader. Kasparov now says that he and other liberals made a "horrible mistake when we endorsed Yeltsin and looked the other way out of fear for a communist comeback. We missed the whole point that democracy is not about results. Democracy is about upholding regulations and having a legitimate transfer of power...
...Putin, Kasparov insists, is getting weaker by the day, as oil prices fall and his entourage starts to look for the protection they will need when he is gone. The Other Russia has brought together a number of groups, from the old nationalist left to the liberal right. All have agreed on a program of fundamental political reform, including a reduction of presidential power, more authority for the parliament and a delegation of authority to the regions. The group's members hope to coalesce around a single presidential candidate...