Daily Times

Russians deem Putin as their messiah since he is the only leader who uplifted their country from nadir to apogee.

A great sensation in contemporary international politics, Vladimir Putin has, undoubtedly, proved his mettle not only in statecraft but also in tactics of global diplomacy. By virtue of his success at home as well as abroad, he has won laurels even from his bitter detractors.

US President Donald Trump could also not help but eulogise Putin on many occasions. Russians are infatuated with Putin and deem him as messiah since he is the only leader who uplifted their country from nadir to apogee. It is because of his nation’s unprecedented love and recognition of his services that he has been ruling over the world’s largest country since 2000. So far, he has won four electoral terms. Last time in 2018, he won 76.69 per cent of the ballots, whereas no other candidate could come closer.

The voting percentage acquired by him has been drastically increased as compared to the last presidential election. He would continue holding the helm of power till 2024. This is irrefutable testimony to the fact that the Russian nation is spellbound by Putin’s charismatic persona.

He is, no doubt, a man with phenomenal achievements in both the internal and external domains of statecraft. Undeniably, he has created a huge impact on the world as well as on his country. Externally, he has taken his country to new heights, which has now resumed to reassert itself. The world, now, has an eagle eye on every move of Russia. The term “Russophobia” finds prominence in international media, particularly in the West.

Putin aspires to regain the lost influence of his country in “near Abroad.” The latest examples of such moves are the Ukraine conflict and the annexation of Crimea. Those who were taken aback by Putin’s annexation of Crimea and the subsequent Russian-fuelled conflict in eastern Ukraine should have remembered that six years earlier, he had set the mould for the “Putin Doctrine” in Georgia. Under this doctrine, Russia would use troops to protect its interests in a sphere of influence, hemmed in by NATO’s advances. Putin is staunchly against NATO’s eastward expansion. Under Yeltsin, Russia pursued the policy of grudging cooperation with NATO. All that changed under Putin.

Since his first interview with BBC, Putin made it clear that NATO’s eastward expansion represented a threat to his country. That’s why Moscow finally started showing its military muscle to NATO to push it back. The newly aggressive stance of Putin has worried Poland and the Baltics, as well as the Nordic countries. Even Sweden and Finland have started musing aloud about joining NATO.

The newly aggressive stance of Putin has worried Poland and the Baltics, as well as the Nordic countries

Additionally, on the external front, Putin is the vocal proponent of a multipolar world. In one of his interviews, when asked about the reason for surging Russophobia in the west, he replied it was because of his stance on the multipolar world that was not appreciated by monopolists. Putin stands up to the western hegemony and China acts as a balance to the overweening military and political power of the US. If Yeltsin was consistently in the US pocket, then Putin has been on its back.

In the pursuit of multipolarity, Putin has shifted, in recent years, towards greater economic and military cooperation with Asian countries, whose growing economies are hungry for Russia’s energy and governments are less judgmental of its human rights records. Putin has brokered two huge deals to supply China with gas. In May, the two countries have also held joint naval exercise in the Mediterranean Sea.

On the contrary, Russian relations with the West are in tatters in many ways. Russophobia is ubiquitous in the West. Consequently, whatever wrong happens in the West is attributed to Russia. Anglo-Russians relations are strained nowadays. Once a second favourite home for Russians, London was where oligarchs parked their kids in swanky schools; listed their companies on stock and bought football clubs. However, it has now turned into a safe haven for the entire dissident community of anti-Putinists, which has further worsened the relationship between the two countries.

Last year, Russia has been accused by Britain for poisoning a Russian agent living in the UK under political asylum. British Prime Minister Theresa May announced to expel 23 Russian diplomats identified as having links to espionage. Russia, in return, expelled some British diplomats and took the decision to close down the British Council in Moscow. This situation aptly depicts the diplomatic storm that Russia is currently facing. It would continue to deteriorate Russia’s ties with the West, and the eventual outcome would be Putin’s dream of moving towards the grand Eurasian strategy, which would bolster the closer links with Asia.

Moreover, Putin also strived hard to project the soft image of his country to the world. In this respect, the Sochi Winter Olympics 2014 and FIFA World Cup 2018 were a triumph for the Putin since no measure of security breach had taken place during these international events. Domestically, Putin is the most popular brand among the Russians. Once Churchill described Russia as a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma. The Putinism prevailing in Russia is a testimony for the enigmatic nature of the Russian political system. It is a fact beyond dispute that today, the entire political structure of Russia is placed on one man.

Putin has moved heaven and earth to consolidate his power. In 2004, he signed a law, allowing the president to appoint regional governors, a privilege that he mostly retains despite reforms prompted by street protest in 2011-12.

Putin’s famous “castling” with Dmitry Medvedev allowed him to return to the presidency in 2012. In the meantime, Russia’s lapdog parliament had passed a law in extending the presidential term from four to six years. With this new enactment, Putin’s stay in the presidential office could surpass that of Leonid Brezhnev-18 years- and even Joseph Stalin. In Putin’s Russia, dissent has no place. When people took to streets during the winter of 2011-2012 and threatened of an agitation similar to Arab Spring, Kremlin moved quickly.

A slew of criminal cases on dubious charges was opened against anti-corruption campaigner Alexei Navalny and 27 protestors from May 2012 Bolotnaya Square Rally. Moreover, new laws have raised the fines for those taking part in protests, not sanctioned by the authorities, to as much as one million roubles or up to five years of forced labour or prison for repeated violations.

In addition, once an oasis of free speech, the Russian internet is now subject to vague laws that allow the government to block sites deemed to publish any type of extremist material prejudicial to Putin’s power and personality. As a result, several major opposition sites were blacklisted in 2013.

NGOs receiving foreign funding also came under severe scrutiny during Putin’s third term. Putin disparaged them as “jackals” and traitors. According to a 2012 law, such groups must label themselves as “foreign agents” in their publications and submit to audits, with stiff fines for failure to meet these onerous requirements.

Putin also played a pivotal role in reviving the country’s ailing economy. When he assumed the office, the Russian economy was just emerging from the disastrous market reforms of the 1990s and the 1998 Financial Crisis. He slashed taxes to benefit businesses. He also re-nationalized key sectors, starting with the dismantling of the political foe, Mikhail Khodorkovsky of Yukos Oil Company in 2003. Nonetheless, unused manufacturing capacity and rising prices for Russia’s main export, oil, helped usher an era of unprecedented prosperity, that Putin is still remembered for, with real disposable income doubling between 1999 and 2006.

Besides, Putin took over a country, whose population was falling at an alarming rate.

With a population of about 150 million at the time of the fall of the Soviet Union, Russia was losing people at a rate of almost one million every year. However, the decline gradually bottomed out. In 2010, the population started growing again.

The secret to this reversal was largely economic as when their financial situation improved during Putin’s reign, Russians began to procreate. The country now has more than 146 million people, up from 142 million in 2008. Even if we don’t count the 2.2 million people that it gained by annexing Crimea, it’s still a positive trend. Alongside a crackdown on the opposition, NGOs and the internet, Putin also introduced new legislation inspired by his vision of Russia as a bastion of traditional morals. The most egregious example was the 2013 ban on gay propaganda, which LGBT rights activists said has contributed to a rise in homophobic harassment in the country, including vigilante group violence. Other legislation imposed fines for the use of expletives on television, radio and in films shown in theatres, drawing criticism from musicians and directors.

To cap it all, Putin’s era, which is marked by internal and external success, would come to an end in 2024. However, the Russians love Putin so much that no one ventures to predict the end of Putinism. However, Putin has to vacate Kremlin one day. Who would be his successor remains elusive so far but it is an undeniable fact that he and his legacy would serve as a guiding star for his successors and Russians would ever remain beholden to him for the services that he rendered for the restoration of power, prestige and sovereignty of his country.

The writer is a legal practitioner-cum-columnist based in Quetta