‘Russia Doesn’t have a Sick Democracy but a Healthy and Thus More Dangerous Totalitarianism,’ Shusharin Says

Paul Goble

            Staunton, Sept. 3 – Most observers both inside Russia and beyond its borders view Russia as “a sick democracy,” a state of affairs that can be cured, but in fact it is “a healthy totalitarian” system that can only be destroyed, according to Dmitry Shusharin, a Russian commentator and the author of a 2017 book on totalitarianism.

            Moreover, that conclusion often suggested in Soviet times is even more true now because, the situation in Russia today is “much more radical” than was the case then because the eclectic mix of notions the regime offers are completely congruent with the thinking if one can call it that of the mass population (kasparov.ru/material.php?id=66D7759EC62EA).

            In his new essay, Shusharin considers the implications of this for Russians and the future; but perhaps the most important is one he does not address. Many analysts argued during the Cold War that the USSR could only be destroyed, but now most suggest that whatever Russia is, reform is possible.

            The analyst’s words suggest that in fact is not possible now just as it was not possible earlier, an important contribution to the debate about Russia’s future and the role of Russians as well as outsiders in dealing with the legacy of Putinist totalitarianism.