(EDM) President Vladimir Putin’s approval rating is regularly accepted as a proxy measure for the level of Russia’s internal cohesion. And his support remains on a sky-high plateau, where it has stood since the explosion of jingoism caused by the annexation of Crimea in March 2014 (Levada.ru, February 26). However, powerful and divisive forces are eroding this purported cohesion, turning Russian society into a disillusioned and apathetic crowd—resembling the nation that failed, 99 years ago, to turn the dethroning of Tsar Nicolas II into a lasting liberating moment. Nikita Khrushchev’s criticism of Josef Stalin’s “personality cult,” 60 years ago, at the 20th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU), was another failed example at liberating the country from autocracy. The burden of responsibility for the crimes of totalitarianism proved too heavy (Gazeta.ru, February 25). Stalin’s grave on Red Square was covered with flowers last Saturday (March 5), on the day of his death; and many Russians still cherish or long for a “firm hand,” no matter the millions of destroyed lives such authoritarian leadership has historically produced (Slon.ru, March 4). […]
Read More © Eurasia Daily Monitor
