Russia Today Neither National nor Imperial But Rather ‘Privatized Soviet’ System, Savvin Says

Sunday, September 23, 2018

Russia Today Neither National nor Imperial But Rather ‘Privatized Soviet’ System, Savvin Says

Paul Goble

Staunton, September 23 – Putin’s Russia is “a land of imitations,” one that is neither imperial nor clerical nor traditionalist nor national but rather a “privatized” version of the Soviet system whose goal – the enrichment of the elite – is something that precludes any of those things and that it cannot admit openly, according to Dimitry Savvin.

The editor of the Riga-based Harbin portal says that Russia today is “not a living political thing but a collection of manikins, cadavers and imitations” whose supporters and opponents are both willing to take for something else because doing so is useful for both of them (harbin.lv/strana-imitatsiy). Read more

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Three Chechen Challenges to Moscow’s Control of the North Caucasus

Sunday, September 23, 2018

Three Chechen Challenges to Moscow’s Control of the North Caucasus

Paul Goble

            Staunton, September 23 – The Kremlin’s massive payments to Ramzan Kadyrov and the latter’s oft-expressed loyalty to Vladimir Putin as well as the Chechen leader’s repressive policies within his republic have kept Chechnya relatively quiet in recent months and led many to assume that it is no longer a problem for Moscow.

            But three stories this weekend underscore the fact that however pacified Chechnya may appear to be, Kadyrov’s rule and Putin’s deference to him carry with it serious problems for Moscow in controlling that republic and other regions in the North Caucasus whose leaders often view what Kadyrov is doing as an indication of what they can try as well. Read more

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