The Kursk and Russia’s Democracy

MOSCOW: Will the sinking of the submarine Kursk and the death of all its crew also sink the Putin revolution? Until now President Putin’s power was unique in Russian history – it was based on his vast popularity, one legitimized by the vote. He could browbeat Russia’s oligarchs into submission and recast the upper house of the Duma to make it bend to his will because he was universally popular and the other elements of Russia’s mostly discredited government knew it. His handling of the Kursk crisis, however, dented that democratic mandate because Putin seemed as contemptuous of human life as all his predecessors in the Kremlin. How well he recovers will determine whether or not Putin’s revolution will remain a democratic one, or whether he will revert to autocracy to pursue his goals.

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