We can dream and imagine a world without Vladimir Putin. There would be no war in Ukraine. Russia and Ukraine would be allies. Democracy would slowly strengthen in Russia. The European Union would cooperate willingly with Russia. NATO would appear less and less useful. China would not be able to rely as easily on Russian natural resources and the Chinese dictatorial regime would appear increasingly anachronistic. The Putin of 2000 was not a bad leader. However, over the years he became more and more dictatorial. Its conception of security increasingly excludes good neighborliness with democracies. In these days of Russian presidential “elections”, a fifth Putin term increasingly appears to constitute a threat against Humanity itself.
1) What has Putin accomplished that is worthwhile?
Putin has implemented several policies that have benefited Russia. In particular, he renationalized hydrocarbon companies, which allowed him to revitalize the Russian economy and modernize the army. Putin also made a rapprochement with NATO, of which his country had even become a partner in 1994. The partnership was suspended in 2014 by NATO following the invasion of Crimea.
2) Why shouldn’t elections in Russia be called that?
Free elections imply the existence of genuine opposition candidates. This is not the case in Russia where only three little-known candidates with programs similar to Putin’s were allowed to run against him. Real opposition candidates were assassinated, imprisoned or declared ineligible. Even the election ballot boxes are suspected of being controlled by Putin. For example, a third of votes are done electronically. The results are decided in advance. Rather than talking about an election, it would be better to talk about Putin’s national inauguration ceremony.
- Listen to international politics expert Loïc Tassé on Benoit Dutrizac’s show via QUB :
3) How is Putin dangerous for Russia?
Putin does not let Russia’s democratic forces speak. Any criticism against him and his clique is strongly repressed. What’s more, he continues to enrich the oligarchs around him, to the detriment of the rest of the population. The war against Ukraine has transformed Russia into a war economy. This type of economy sooner or later ends up costing a country dearly because a large number of young people are sacrificed and because the priority given to war prevents several non-military economic sectors from developing.
4) How is Putin dangerous for Humanity?
Putin is an essential component of the emerging axis formed by North Korea, China, Iran and Russia. The leaders of the countries in this new axis feel threatened by democracies. Rightly so, if free elections were held in their respective countries, they would all lose power. The paranoia of these leaders and their visceral hatred of democracies push them to always arm themselves more, well beyond what a cold reading of the international interests of their countries would require. Worse, the international order established by democracies, as imperfect as it may be, appears threatening to them because it is based on the defense of rights that they deny to their own citizens. So they seek to overthrow him.
5) Will the post-Putin era be freer for Russians?
It is difficult to find a leader as charismatic and as experienced as Putin. His succession could be difficult, which gives hope.