Soviet Union all over again?

Have we gone back in time, oh, say 20 or 30 years? It sure seems like it, looking at Russian President Vladimir Putin’s comments in the past few months. There’s a thing to be said for nostalgia of the older, simpler days, but he’s really taking it far this time around. And Putin is not alone in his desire for the old days of Russian strength and international power, but the generals in the Russian Army seem to share his longing for the good ol’ days too.

First, there is the obvious power grabbing that has gone on in Russia. In light of record oil profits, the Russian government has now found it necessary to re-nationalize many of the big oil companies that, only a few years ago, were run by the State. This means that the State now has all this new-found money to go on a spending spree with. This is no small detail, as it was only last year that, according to the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) statistics, Russia has overtaken Saudi Arabia as the world’s largest oil producer. In addition to this nationalization of oil companies, Putin has been centralizing power in the President’s hands. The most obvious example of this is the post-school-takeover power grab, when Putin removed the popular elections of regional governors, and put in place governors that the President appointed. To fully complement his power-grabbing, Putin has also decided that the nationwide television should also be run under the supervision of the State. Nothing like good ol’ Cold War-era news coming out of the Kremlin.

Second, Putin has found the need for a massive military overhaul, including General Solovtsov’s high-profile support for a modern missile production plan. In the past few months, as reports of talks to place missile bases in the Czech Republic and Poland (as part of the missile defense shield President Bush has championed), Putin and his generals have stepped up talking about their counters to the “threat” posed by the shield. In the past few months, for example, Putin has brought up the notion that Russia has a hypersonic long-range missile that can alter its trajectory, rendering the missile defense system useless. In addition to that, there is the new process that Russia is undergoing, whereby it is modernizing its nuclear missiles. Throw in a plan to start creating new intermediate-range missiles (missiles that are banned due to the Intermediate Nuclear Forces Treaty signed by Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev), and a general’s idea to have a smaller, more mobile Army similar to the United States army, and you have a pretty formidable foe for any possible national enemies.

Third, some of Putin’s most vocal critics seem to find themselves dying or shot. Take, for example, the shooting of an expert on Russian intelligence. He was shot outside of his Maryland home, in what some are claiming was a “robbery.” He appeared on “Dateline NBC” only days earlier, saying evidence pointed to the Kremlin being responsible for the death of ex-KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko. And in Russia, a journalist that was a vocal critic of the government and Putin has “committed suicide” by jumping out of a fourth-floor window in his apartment block. The interesting thing is that this man lived on the second floor in this apartment block, and was going to write a report about secret Kremlin-Syria missile systems deals. Never mind the fact that two female college students called emergency services after hearing his body land on the portico above the main entrance, only to be told to wait 30 minutes, and then call back if he was still moving.

However much Putin may want the old Soviet Union back, along with its associated power plays and ways of oppressing the populace, it should not fly any longer. The Russian people should not stand for Putin’s antics, and they should not support him only because he has been able to pull them out of the economic doldrums (while that is a noble achievement, it should not be the loyalty-maker for his reign as Russian President). We can only hope that, come 2008, Russia has truly free elections, and are not overtly swayed by Putin’s power hold over the country.