Konsolidating the Kremlin
| Published 10/08/04

Graphic by: Ande Hearn

Disturbing and frightening changes are currently taking place in the wake of the Belsan terrorist incident in Russia. Chechen terrorists seized a school full of children; when the dust cleared, 338 people had perished -- nearly half of them young children. Rightly outraged, the Russian citizens questioned the ability of the democratic regime under President Vladimir Putin to combat the terrorist threat and handle the ongoing problems with the Chechen province, which is desperately seeking to secede from the Russian Federation.

President Putin responded to these criticisms with sweeping reforms. Number one on these reforms is the proposal for Putin to nominate the regional governors (Russia currently has 89) before they are approved locally. Many current governors have signed up with the pro-Kremlin United Russia party, no doubt in an effort to curry favor with Putin and maintain their governorships.

While the argument for this reform is credible, Russia's economic chaos usually leads to votes being fixed or officials being bribed; this is not a feasible solution to the problem. This measure could possibly lead to the one-party, Kremlin-centric political infrastructure present during the time of the Soviet Union. While Putin affirms he will stand by the democratic market-capitalist system that Russia currently employs, it is an old adage that "absolute power corrupts absolutely." By giving Moscow a great influence on the regional governors, Putin is essentially a hop, skip and a jump away from giving himself all the power.

Before we go on, let's get one thing straight: Russia will not revert back into a communist society. I believe Russians understand that communism simply did not work and that it left them in a very sad economic state, which they've been attempting to dig their way out of for the last 10 years. However, Russia has a long history of autocratic, totalitarian rulers, much like the Soviet dictators. In fact, fascism could stand the chance of making a 21 century debut in modern Russia.

If we look at the conditions of 1930s Germany and draw a comparison to 2004 Russia, we find many striking similarities: poor economic conditions, including substantial inflation; high unemployment rate and a breakdown of law and order. Another deeply rooted similarity would be the fact that 1930s Germany went through roughly a decade of democracy that couldn't solve the problems of a nation that had. It had autocratic rulers during its entire history, much like 2004 Russia.

Russia also possesses another factor that could foster fascism: an enemy to unite the people in blind hatred. For the Germans it was the Jews, for the Russians it is the Muslims. With terrorism a global issue and terrorism taking shape in Radical Islam, Russia can mobilize the tragedy of Belsan for a greater hard-line stance in Chechnya and a general unified purge of Muslims in the Eastern Orthodox society. This fear, anger and pain can play into the hands of any political leader seeking to remain in office and to strengthen his pull on Russia's reigns. In fact, immediately after the Belsan tragedy, Putin affirmed to the Russian people -- without domestic criticism -- that he would strengthen Russia to prevent further terrorist attacks.

It's events like this in history that usually lend people the desire to give up their freedom for a strong decisive government. Keep an eye on Russia: it's a sleeping behemoth that may be seeking to reestablish its place as a world superpower. Quite frankly, it is a paranoid, immature, rebellious teenager that could see the world as an overbearing parent.