Word: putin
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...surprise, then, that this pattern is now being repeated under President Vladimir Putin, as Moscow's relations with the West sour and the screws are tightened domestically. Opposition parties are banned, and rallies are brutally broken up by the police. NGOs get shut down, while the state launches criminal probes into their leaders. The cowed media's controls grow ever harsher. And, just as 42 years ago, the Kremlin propaganda invokes the specter of an external enemy and its internal agents threatening Mother Russia. The continuing hysteria against "the desecration" of the Soviet memorial in Estonia (which in reality...
...Rather than remember and reconcile, the Putin regime doesn't miss a chance to abuse the sacred May 9 anniversary as a part of a wider campaign to fan nationalist hysteria in Russia ahead of December's parliamentary elections, and the Presidential poll scheduled for next March. Just as in Soviet times, there's nothing like the specter of an external enemy, either to make the people accept that they don't change horses in midstream and let Putin stay - or to pave the way for someone way harsher than Putin. A strong hand to keep the country together. Just...
...equally assertive. He revealed, for example, that he intends to propose Kazakhstan for the presidency of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe. Gone are the days when Russia was content to be in the audience rather than onstage. And by playing along diplomatically with Kazakhstan, Putin hopes to enhance both Russia's prestige and authority and his own. Crucial to this end is the revival of Russian armed power. The address to the Federal Assembly touched on this in ways that have tended to escape the attention of foreign observers. Recognizing the inefficiency of a massive conscript...
...Putin, a former KGB officer, talks about the priority for Russia to move beyond being a supplicant in world affairs. Equally forceful in his own country, he has done dreadful things. Chechnya's soil is sodden with blood and is ruled by a thug who has Putin's approval. The Russian media have been intimidated into submission. The rule of law is widely ignored. Businessmen kowtow to the government or else lose their businesses. Almost a fifth of Russians live in poverty, according to U.S. figures...
...Putin rides high in the opinion polls. He has brought stability and pride back to Russia. He speaks tough to foreign politicians. And, as his comments on the treaty on conventional forces in Europe show, he is politically clever. The threat is a veiled one. Putin says he first wants to put his argument to the NATO-Russia Council; he intends to appear as a reasonable negotiator. Whether he really thinks the Americans will back down in Poland and the Czech Republic is not clear. But he appeals strongly to Russians. And he can make a lot more trouble...