The Putin Legacy


According to Russian rule, the premier cannot serve more than two consecutive terms.

But it is also clear that Putin is not quite ready to give up the reins of power; in fact, it seems that his ambitions to run Russia for the foreseeable future run deep.

Putin has always been somewhat of a mystery, a sullen man who seems beset with an inferiority complex towards the West.

But is that the case today? And what if any is the role of Bush in the shaping of the Russian premier?


In the past, historians tended to see history as played out in discrete events, the chicken or the egg.

But now the view of history is changing. More progressive thinkers are looking at the influence of other things on the events that shape history. For example, the impact of the eruption of a Javanese volcano in shaping the Roman fall. And there are many other such scenarios.

In the case of Putin, one may wonder whether Bush played into what has become literally the elevation of Putin as the savior of the Russian people from a Bush-led attempt to assert western hegemony?

Today, this natural suspicion of Bush’s motives has in turn led to broad-based support for Russia’s bad boy, Putin. But, today, Russia’s role has changed with its control of major resources like gas and oil on which most of Europe is dependent for its energy. Putin no longer has reason to keep his ambitions for Russia under wraps.

This has allowed Russia to rebuild its infrastructure and create a base of wealth for the first time since the Cold War. Nor has Putin been shy about his predisposition to act as counterbalance to the West’s attempts to isolate the Russian giant.

Nontheless, this does not resolve what happens to Russia next. As we know, the obvious path is to appoint his choice of follower as the next premier which is likely to happen. (This was, in fact, announced today.)But down the road, it is not unlikely that Putin will manage to stay close to the seat of power and that his growing confidence and sense of power will invariably serve as a counterweight to further initiatives by the west to secure their power base in the Middle East.

We have not heard the last of Russia’s intentions. But we should not be surprised if Putin enhances his standing with middle eastern leaders who no longer see lining up with the west as being to their advantage.

Obviously, this can only further complicate a situation that is in danger of gaining speed as it continues its slide down hill. Or need we remind anyone that preemption and the casting away of long held and respected treaties does not do much to erase Russian suspicions of our motives….Or that Russia’s vast inventory of nuclear weapons can be retargeted in minutes….

Les Aaron
The Armchair Curmudgeon