Putin’s 14 Points Echo Those of Stalin, Eidman Says

Paul Goble

            Staunton, January 27 – On the occasion of the centenary of Woodrow Wilson’s 14 Points that defined much of the 20^th century, Igor Eidman suggests that Vladimir Putin shares 14 very different points in common with his Soviet predecessor Joseph Stalin, a commonality underscored by Moscow’s current campaign against the film, “The Death of Stalin.”

            The two men share an approach to rule in 14 ways, the Russian commentator for Deutsche Welle suggests (facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=1743882715674700&id=100001589654713). They are:

1.      “An authoritarian rule of ‘a national leader’ and a cult of his personality.”

2.      “A large role in the life of the country for the special services.”

3.      “The holding of ‘elections’ as a show with results known well in advance to demonstrate ‘the support by the people for the authorities.”

4.      “An aggressive and angry total state propaganda.”

5.      “Official patriotism celebrating Russian history, the rulers of the country, and its imaginary achievements.”

6.      “The promotion of hatred to the West and above all to the US.”

7.      “The pursuit of ‘foreign agents’ and ‘national traitors’ within the country and the secret murder of some of them.”

8.      “Spy mania and an attempt to shift responsibility for the problems of the country onto ‘the intrigues of foreign enemies.”

9.      “The cult of ‘traditional values,’ of a repressive sexual morality, and of a patriarchal family.”

10.  “The militarization of society and a cult of military force.”

11.  “Repressions against political opponents and senior officials who don’t suit ‘the leader.’”

12.  “An aggressive and expansionist foreign policy, including an attempt to subordinate to itself neighboring and certain other countries” leading to “a cold war with the West.”

13.  “The conduct of a subversive ‘hybrid’ war, directed at the destabilization of the domestic poltiiccal situation in Western countries.”

14.  “Terror against Ukrainian patriots and Crimean Tatars.”

“Of course,” Eidman concedes, “the scale of the two is different. But the direction of the actions of these two regimes is very similar. Stalin really isn’t dead. He lives on in the form of a pale, petty but sufficiently bloody reincarnation under the name ‘Putin.’”