The collapse of one great state, the USSR, was accompanied by the birth of another - a new, viable state. The Russian Federation of today bears little resemblance to the RSFSR.
Democracy is not under attack in Russia at present, because Russia hasn't really had a system of government at all since 1991. I view what is happening in Russia nowadays as an attempt to establish a politically coherent state.
This isn't a battle against democracy at all. It's a battle against the absence of government - against anarchy. The Kremlin's policy aims to establish a real hierarchy of governance, capable of saving Russia from political collapse. I won't deny that this system of governance is being established according to the will of one person, or a fairly restricted group of people. But it is still within the channel of the demands which history is currently making on Russia. No amount of state administration reforms could bring back the degree of centralization that existed in the Brezhnev or Stalin eras; therefore, Putin's reforms are aimed at ensuring that decisions made in Moscow are implemented precisely in the regions.
Putin is considerably more interesting than Yeltsin, both as a statesman and an individual. For all his unpredictability, Yeltsin was fairly primitive. Putin has managed to haul Russia out of the abyss into which his predecessor drove it. Under Putin, Russia has achieved a turnaround in its history. Our country certainly does have a new national idea. That idea is our president. Russia has a great future. In that future, Russia won't be a lone superpower, nor the junior partner of the United States or the West in general. And neither will it be the "bright future" promised to us ever since 1917.
Translated by Pavel Pushkin
Nu, zayats, pogodi!
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