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The last years of Yeltsin have been so traumatic that the bickering cogs and wheels of Russia's establishment united behind the only vote-getter they could lay their hands on: Putin, an obscure politician and former KGB officer. To a large extent, he proved to be an agreeable puppet, concerned mostly with self-preservation and the imaginary projection of illusory power.
Vladimir Putin is much more popular in Russia than his cabinet but the government get good marks. The leadership in Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, suffered precipitous drops in popularity since 1991. East Europeans except the Russians also rate the European Union higher than they do their own authorities. In Slovakia the ratio is a whopping three to one.
"It is not our war", is a common refrain, growing commoner. Putin has played it admirably nimbly. Whether he ultimately succeeds in this impossible act of balancing remains to be seen. The smart money says he would. But if the last three years have taught us anything it is that the smart money is often disastrously wrong. Germany's Rebellious Colonies By: Dr. Sam Vaknin Also Read
He caters to the needs of the elite by cozying up to the West and, in particular, to America even as he provides the lower classes with a sense of direction and security they lacked since 1985. But Putin is a serendipitous president.
The United States knows that Russia will not jeopardize the relevance of the Security Council one of the few remaining hallmarks of past Soviet grandeur by vetoing an American-sponsored resolution. Nor can Putin risk further antagonizing Moscow hardliners who already regard his perceived "Gorbachev-like" obsequiousness and far reaching concessions to the USA as treasonous.
But Putin is not Boris Yeltsin, his inebriated predecessor who over-played his hand in opposing NATO's operation in Kosovo in 1999 only to be sidelined, ignored and humiliated in the postwar arrangements. Russia wants a free hand in Chechnya and to be heard on international issues.
The Chechen Theatre Ticket Russia's Israeli Oil Bond Russia's Idled Spies Russia in 2003 Russian President Vladimir Putin warned on Tuesday, in an interview he granted to TF1, a French television channel, that unilateral American-British military action against Iraq would be a "grave mistake" and an "unreasonable use of force". Russia might veto it in the Security Council, he averred.
Both Vladimir Putin, Russia's president and Yuri Luzhkov, Moscow's mayor, now take the trouble to greet the capital's one million Muslims on the occasion of their Feast of Sacrifice. They also actively solicit the votes of the nationalist and elitist Muslims of the industrialized Volga mainly the Tatars, Bashkirs and Chuvash.
The downtown leaders wouldn't do uptown, and vice versa. So, you see, these fool critics don't know what they're talkin' about when they criticize Tammany Hall, the most perfect political machine on earth. Dangers of the Dress Suit in Politics PUTIN' on style don't pay in politics. The people won't stand for it.
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