Putin-Medvedev: Premier musical chairs Eric Walberg Russian President Dmitri Medvedev's nomination of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin as Medvedev's claims to fame have been cosmetic or at best fiddling, starting with the faulty restart button with US President Barack Obama, proceeding through a series of giveaways, – allowing US troop and materiel to transit Russia to Afghanistan, leaving in place various US bases in Russia's "near abroad", acceding to the US-sponsored missile defence shield on its borders, and ending with Medvedev's abstention on UN Resolution 1973 allowing the recolonisation of Libya. All his talk about domestic reforms and a new European face for Russians have continued to pack their bags for better pastures during the Medvedev years. Along came the Arab Spring and United Russia suddenly was exposed as a hollow shell, a party of "thieves and swindlers". Putin risked losing his legacy, as the surge of pride and resolve to build a new But is a revival of the glory days of Putin's presidency possible? The prospects for a new Putin presidency are being met with unease in Russian society. Protests on dozens of burning issues, from ecology to traffic, education to health, not to mention corruption, continue, as do terrorist bombings and assassinations. It's no wonder that many pine for the good ol' days of state socialism. The Communists are regaining their respect, as the solutions to That Medvedev is a poor prospect even for PM was confirmed when Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin said he would not work in a Cabinet led by Medvedev and was promptly fired by the president in a fit of peak. It is unlikely that Medvedev will last long in the grinding and thankless job of PM come March 2012. *** Eric Walberg writes for Al-Ahram Weekly http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/ You can reach him at http://ericwalberg.com/ His Postmodern Imperialism: Geopolitics and the Great Games is available at http://claritypress.com/Walberg.html |
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