Member-only story
How do countries die?
Part Two. Putin’s Russia
Since 2000, the largest country on the planet has become the domain of just one man — Vladimir Putin. So much so that when we say Russia it is now generally understood to mean Putin’s Russia. Some even call it that way. This country has nothing in common with the rebellious democracy of the 90s and seeks to rule again like the USSR.
On 14 December 1999, Russia’s first president, Boris Yeltsin, announced to Prime Minister Vladimir Putin that he wanted to resign early, so Putin could go to the election as acting president and that the election itself would be moved up from June to March The polls suggested that Putin’s rating was at its peak, and the sooner the elections were held, the more confident his supporters in power were that he would win.
Less than a week after Yeltsin’s resignation, The New York Times published an article titled ‘Russia’s Best Bet’. Despite his dubious KGB past and lack of a liberal Democrat profile, Putin was seen as a new face. A man untainted by the roaring politics of the ’90s, Putin acted according to optimistic expectations: he supported a market economy and limited the influence of oligarchs. The international resource market was…
