Apparatchik is a word that was frequently used during the Soviet era. It implied a nameless, faceless non-entity with a meaningless job somewhere in the vast bureaucracy. And it safely and accurately described a 37-year-old KGB Lt. Col. in Dresden when the Berlin Wall fell. He had been an indifferent student, and then, at best, an adequate administrator in the system that unravelled in the Gorbachev era. He was known as a somewhat ascetic teetotaler with a fondness for the martial arts. His life was completely unremarkable.
Anatoly Sobchak, the man who would become the first elected mayor of St. Petersburg, was looking to add to his staff someone with a familiarity with the old system and thought that a younger KGB man might fit his needs. Thus began Putin's political career in 1990. He was on vacation during the 1991 putsch, during which Sobchak shined and returned in time to bask in his boss's success. Putin was unhappy with the demise of the USSR, but somehow had landed on his feet in the new Russian Federation. For the next five years, he was Sobchak's right hand man and because of his fluent German, the Deputy Mayor tasked with liaising with foreign investors. He gained invaluable experience and made a vast number of contacts. Economic and political turmoil riled Russia in the 90's, leading to Sobchak's loss at he polls and a volatile presidential election in 1996. In the aftermath of Yeltsin's victory, jobs were up for grabs in Moscow and the minister in charge of the Kremlin's vast wealth reached out to Putin. Within months, he was transferred to a position investigating corruption in the management of the government's affairs, and a year later was promoted by Yeltsin to a high-ranking political position. Putin was hard working, discreet, honest, competent and loyal. In 1998, Yeltsin, fearful that the KGB's successor, the FSB, was looking at him and his family, rewarded Putin with the top job there. The Russian Federation in the late 1990's was in a state of chronic crisis. None of the people or institutions were equipped to handle the freedom that the end of the USSR had created. Yeltsin was so ill that he would go for months without coming to the Kremlin and, after the abuse of the oligarchs, the inflation, the default on the nation's debt and the near collapse of the state, he was bereft of political capital. It's somewhat ironic that he was impeached by the Duma at the same point in time that Bill Clinton was by the House. Nonetheless, he was obsessed by who was to succeed him and, since everyone considered the PM the one who was next in line, he fired and appointed PMs constantly. Worried about his fate when he would be out of office, Yeltsin rewarded the loyal Vladimir Putin with the position in August 1999, ten months before the next election. Putin prosecuted the 2nd war in Chechnya with a new vigor that caught the attention of the public. On the last day of 1999, Yeltsin resigned. Vladimir Putin was President of Russia.
Putin consolidated power, was elected convincingly, and began to focus on his primary mission - restoring some sense of stability to the nation. He also sought some sort of accommodation with the US. He had hoped that the events of Sept. 11 would lead to an alignment against terrorists. He was facing an Islamic revolt in the south. He supported US efforts in Afghanistan and stopped complaining about NATO. In return, George Bush gave him a heads up when the US withdrew from the ABM pact. After the US invasion of Iraq in 2003, Putin came full circle in opposition to the US. He turned vehemently anti-American after the Orange Revolution in Ukraine. At home, the war in Chechnya ground on to no avail and fostered terrorist activity across the nation. Hundreds died in different terrorist events, including bombings of buildings, public transit facilities, a theater, a soccer stadium, an elementary school, and two planes blown out of the sky by suicide bombers. It was Afghanistan all over again, only closer to home and with domestic terrorism thrown in. The increase in the price of oil greatly enhanced the financial status of Russia and allowed Putin to crack down on dissent in the media, to eliminate western NGO's, and enhance the old Soviet-style police state. By 2005, it began to look as if the old days were back. He told the world that the dissolution of the USSR was "the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the century". Proud of the past, refusing to disavow Stalin, this ideological son of the Great Patriotic War was seeking to define a new nationalism. With the confiscation of Yukos, he began to turn back some of the abuses that led to the dispersion of Russia's wealth into the hands of the oligarchs. He became known as the CEO of Kremlin, Inc. And, as his second term continued, he doubled down on his animosity and contempt for US policy and George W. Bush. At a Davos presentation in 2007, he stunned the world with the depth of his feelings. As his second term wound down, he selected Dmitri Medvedev as his successor, divorced his wife of almost thirty years, had the good fortune to be designated the next Prime Minister, and was suspected by the CIA and some well-informed Russians to be worth $40B.
As PM, Putin was still in charge and very focused on the Sochi Olympics. He continued to manage the economy. Medvedev had hoped for better but as 2012 approached, Putin announced he would return as President (now a six-year term) and Medvedev would assume leadership of the United Russia party and then the Premiership. Opposition to this power grab was fierce and the Duma elections, which came first, were generally conceded to be fraudulent, a mockery of the concept. Hundreds of thousands took to the streets of Moscow to protest. Nonetheless, he was easily re-elected after presenting himself as Russia's protector of all things evil from the west, particularly the US. He cracked down on any and all dissent, was ferocious in response to Obama's attempt to reset, welcomed Edward Snowden, and basked in the glow of hosting an Olympiad. Olympic triumphs were immediately outweighed by the convulsions in Ukraine, in his mind attributable to the underhanded actions of the EU and the US. His response was to reverse Khruschev's transfer of the Crimea to Ukraine by annexing the peninsula. He followed with an invasion of eastern Ukraine. The west responded with very severe sanctions. The sanctions and the collapse in the price of oil hammered the Russian economy. The book closes in 2014 with Putin indisputably atop a nationalistic, totalitarian Russia, hating the west and according to Angela Merkel, no longer in touch with reality.
I've struggled with certain aspects of this book. For quite some time I've despised the Soviet bending of history, defilement of the truth and the Alice In Wonderland views articulated by their lying leaders. That Putin eventually fell into the same style of governing makes for disquieting reading, and a fear for the future. I also am very disappointed in the fact after fact presentation style of this book. I realize that biographers who muse over motivations and intentions can sometimes stray from the telling of a story. But, to never offer a single sentence or thought about something is being too descriptive for me. In the end, the style and the utterly demoralizing tale have worn me out.
No comments:
Post a Comment