Let’s return to a question raised by a previous post. Does Putin’s vision for Russia more closely resemble the Russian Empire or the USSR?
Here is my analysis:
- Putin is an arbitrary ruler, constrained by no particular doctrine: You can argue that this is a good description of Stalin, but even he had to make some pretense of being a communist, and his successors were more oligarchs and bureaucrats than dictators. Advantage: Empire.
- Putin has no obvious successor, which will lead to instability when he is gone: Succession was not a problem for the autocracy, but it was at times for the USSR. Advantage: USSR.
- Putin’s repression is limited to actual opponents of his regime, not entire economic classes: Advantage, Empire, which featured a smaller secret police and prison camp system than the USSR.
- Putin personally controls and disposes of most of the wealth in Russia: His kleptocracy resembles a feudal state more than anything in the 21st Century. Advantage: Empire.
- One of Putin’s apparent objectives is to reunite the former Soviet republics under the leadership of Russia. That was the way the USSR was run, but those republics were part of the Empire, too. Advantage: Even.
- Putin supports the Russian Orthodox Church and at least claims to stand for traditional Russian values: Advantage, Empire. The Communists tore down churches.
And so, in spite of the fact that Putin served in the USSR, he is more tsar than dictator. The real question is whether his ambitions extend outside the USSR’s boundaries to include portions of the Warsaw Pact. That would be a tiebreaker; it is TBD.