Paul
Goble
Staunton, May 11 – The collapse in
the ratings of Vladimir Putin and other members of the Russian regime compels
them to seek a new “short victorious war,” the only means they believe they
have to shore up their power, Leonid Gozman head of the Union of Right Forces,
says. And this time it may against a domestic opponent.
The way in which Putin sought to
piggyback on the victory of the Soviet people in World War II during the latest
anniversary shows just how important wars remain as a legitimating principle for
the current Kremlin leader, the opposition politician says (gordonua.com/blogs/gozman/vlastyam-rf-kak-vozduh-nuzhna-novaya-pobedonosnaya-voyna-tolko-tak-oni-mogut-uderzhatsya-i-oni-ee-aktivno-ishchut-1499294.html).
There is no obvious “second Crimea,”
and that hasn’t worked out all that well for the Kremlin either, Gozman
continues. The powers that be “don’t want a world war,” although they are more
than pleased to frighten others with that possibility. And “petty adventures do
not give the effect” they seek.
That Putin may be thinking about
trying to get a kind of “victory” against domestic opponents is suggested by the
way in which he organized the celebration of Victory Day this year. Earlier
that holiday was almost the only one on the calendar that unified all the
citizens of Russia.
But this year, in its Putinesque
form, it doesn’t “unite but divide,” not only between Russia and the rest of the
world given that in Putin’s version Russia fought alone but also between those within
who were and are not enthusiastic about the regime, Stalin’s then or Putin’s
now.
The obvious “next step – and the
powers are ready to make it – is the order for the destruction of traitors of
the motherland and by the laws of military times given that we still have not returned
to peaceful ones.” That prospect is frightening because it suggests that Putin’s
next “short victorious war” will be against his own people just as was the case
with Stalin.
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