Filenews 20 March 2024 - by Marc Champion
As an "exercise in democracy," Vladimir Putin's victory with 87 percent at the polls over the weekend was a travesty, meaning only as a defining chapter in the tragic history of missed opportunity and disaster that has now become his 24 years in power. However, judging a Russian election by the standards of liberal democracy would be a dangerous delusion today.
Putin's victory must be seen through the eyes of the Kremlin, because Russia's history is no longer a strange transition away from communism. It has established a new—yet familiar—style of authoritarian rule for Russia that — not for the first time — defines itself as a pole against the West. In those terms, this weekend's parody was an utterly successful political theater performance that will provide a crucial backdrop for Putin's recovery from the deep military humiliations suffered by the Russian military, including its leader, in Ukraine two years ago.
Springboard
With that as a springboard, Putin can now wait at least another six years in power, which would make him Russia's longest-serving leader since Catherine the Great, the empress who first seized the territories Putin is fighting for in Ukraine. Having miscalculated the willingness of the Ukrainians to fight back and the West's willingness to support its defense, Putin's intuition that he would be able to hold out against both appears to be derailed. He did not even have to wait for the November US presidential election for Donald Trump to turn off the spigot of aid from Washington. Trump's control of the Republican Party has already partially ensured this.
Europe, meanwhile, finally seems to have understood how profoundly a Russian victory in Ukraine would change the future of the continent, yet it is notoriously struggling to do much about it. The war is by no means over. The Ukrainians will fight as much as they can, even without sufficient ammunition — and it's even possible that the U.S. and Europe will regain their resolve. But if not, Putin can hope to prevail — in his eyes and those of many others — over the collective power of a rich and arrogant West.
Equally important, the Russian economy has weathered the heaviest sanctions that Ukraine's allies could impose. Unemployment rates are low, wages are rising, and the economy is on track to transition away from the dollar and dependence on arms production and non-Western energy markets. Putin's authority is not in question.
I say all this with a heavy heart, having lived in Moscow for about seven years and having seen the possibilities for a different outcome. This return to aggressive authoritarianism was not predetermined by fate – or in this case by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). It was simply the default "setting" for a country with little different historical experience.
Model and acceptance
After four terms as president and two as prime minister, Putin has now stifled Russia's ability to develop democratic institutions, such as independent courts or free media, at least for the foreseeable future. In their place he built a friendly kleptocracy. It also squandered the enormous advantages of the linguistic, economic and personal ties Russia had with its former Soviet neighbours, treating them all, mafia-like, as its property, rather than partners.
The result was to incite economic and military wars, rather than investment and trade ties. Russia's greatest assets after its vast mineral and energy resources – a hugely talented younger generation of mathematicians and software engineers – have escaped repression or the military by hundreds of thousands, giving different meaning to the current high employment rates.
For now, however, Putin runs a functioning society in which the middle classes can live well in Moscow and other major urban centers, while in more remote areas he can pay many times the tiny salaries available there for a citizen to go and fight in Ukraine. Most Russians seem to accept this model, as well as Putin's offer to trade greater personal freedom and prosperity for the restoration of Russian power and pride.
Speaking in his victory speech late Sunday, Putin seemed to relish what he clearly sees as his survival in a fight against the West in Ukraine as he proclaimed to his supporters that all his sometimes "grandiose" plans would now be achieved. This is a promise that it does not need free elections or respect for human rights to fulfil them, only Western naivety and weakness.
Performance – Editing – Text Selection (2019-2024): G. D. Pavlopoulos
