Hotmail  |  Gmail  |  Yahoo  |  Justice Mail
powered by Google
WWW http://www.JusticeForNorthCaucasus.com

Add JFNC Google Bar Button to your Browser Google Bar Group  
 
 
Welcome To Justice For North Caucasus Group

Log in to your account at Justice For North Caucasus eMail system.

Request your eMail address

eMaill a Friend About This Site.

Google Translation

 

 

NOVEMBER 2008


Guardian: How Putin Has Failed Russia

posted by eagle on November, 2008 as ANALYSIS / OPINION


He may not have ordered the killing of Anna Politkovskaya, but Putin has been unable to combat the chaos that caused it

 
 
  • guardian.co.uk, Friday 21 November 2008 18.00 GMT
  •  

    More than once, I have listened to a Russian tell me the convoluted story of how a grandparent was killed on the personal orders of Stalin. Sometimes, I sensed they knew this was far-fetched, but this myth gave an explanation and a higher meaning to their relative's death.

    When a journalist and Putin critic is killed in Russia (or London), the reaction is often the same from journalists. The immediate rush to judgment is that the "ex-KGB colonel" is somehow involved. It certainly makes a good story that is easy to understand and excites the emotions by personalising the perpetrator.

    But I have never been truly convinced of Putin's involvement in a grand Kremlin plot to kill Anna Politkovskaya, a crime that finally reached court this week. When he said that she was "very minor", he was not so much denigrating her journalism as being callously honest – there would have been too many negatives from having her killed, not least the bad press abroad.

    Under Putin, as under Yeltsin, the deaths of journalists have mainly been connected with the trouble in Chechnya and Ingushetia or the investigation of shady business deals and corruption. Just this week, a local Moscow journalist was badly beaten after providing critical coverage of the local authorities. The fact that the people who ordered Politkovskaya's killing (most likely someone she was investigating in Chechnya) have not been found does not mean that the Kremlin was behind it. It means that someone with enough power – control over guns or money – does not want the truth to get out.

    Just as with Stalin, people have an impression of Putin as an all-powerful dictator who controls every aspect of his country. This impression is pushed by Russian and western media, as well as Putin himself and his allies. But it's a mirage. While we think of Putin as an dictator, directly responsible for the death of journalists, we miss the point. We need to get deeper inside what make Russia a country where this kind of thing can happen.

    This is not to absolve Putin of responsibility for what happens in Russia. His leadership has failed to bring about a form of governance and society where the truth will out and punishment awaits the real perpetrators, and not just the small fish, as in this trial. Putin did not create this problem, but he has utterly failed to solve it.

    Rather ironically, Putin's biggest failure turns out to be his inability to bring order to a country still controlled at a local and national level by the power of guns and money. The much-vaunted stability that he brought to the country has been largely financial, fuelled by petrodollars, and it now appears to be unravelling as the price of oil plunges.

    When Putin came to power in 2000, he promised to institute a "dictatorship of the law". But when Medvedev became president earlier this year, he attacked the "legal nihilism" that pervades Russia's justice system. This lack of progress is surely one of the greatest indictments of any leader who claims to be taking his country towards democracy, as Putin does.
     
     

    comments (0)


    1 - 1 of 1



     RSS FEED


    New Posts



    Search Analysis Opinion



    ANALYSIS / OPINION



    Archive


     december 2013

     november 2013

     october 2013

     september 2013

     august 2013

     july 2013

     june 2013

     may 2013

     april 2013

     march 2013

     february 2013

     december 2012

     august 2012

     july 2012

     april 2012

     march 2012

     february 2012

     july 2011

     june 2011

     may 2011

     april 2011

     march 2011

     february 2011

     january 2011

     december 2010

     november 2010

     october 2010

     september 2010

     august 2010

     july 2010

     june 2010

     may 2010

     april 2010

     march 2010

     february 2010

     january 2010

     december 2009

     november 2009

     october 2009

     september 2009

     august 2009

     july 2009

     june 2009

     may 2009

     april 2009

     march 2009

     february 2009

     january 2009

     december 2008

     november 2008

     october 2008

     august 2008

     july 2008

     may 2008

     february 2008

     december 2007

     november 2007

     october 2007

     september 2007

     august 2007

     july 2007

     june 2007

     may 2007

     april 2007

     march 2007

     february 2007

     january 2007

     december 2006

     november 2006

     october 2006

     september 2006

     august 2006

     july 2006

     june 2006

     may 2006

     april 2006

     march 2006

     february 2006

     january 2006

     december 2005

     november 2005

     october 2005

     september 2005

     august 2005

     july 2005

     june 2005

     may 2005

     april 2005

     april 2000

     february 2000



    Acknowledgement: All available information and documents in "Justice For North Caucasus Group" is provided for the "fair use". There should be no intention for ill-usage of any sort of any published item for commercial purposes and in any way or form. JFNC is a nonprofit group and has no intentions for the distribution of information for commercial or advantageous gain. At the same time consideration is ascertained that all different visions, beliefs, presentations and opinions will be presented to visitors and readers of all message boards of this site. Providing, furnishing, posting and publishing the information of all sources is considered a right to freedom of opinion, speech, expression, and information while at the same time does not necessarily reflect, represent, constitute, or comprise the stand or the opinion of this group. If you have any concerns contact us directly at: eagle@JusticeForNorthCaucasus.com


    Page Last Updated: {Site best Viewed in MS-IE 1024x768 or Greater}Copyright © 2005-2009 by Justice For North Caucasus ®