One of the ironies of Russian and Slavic politics in general is that Russian are horrendous liars but masters of bluffing. Thus Russia is great at “playing cards”, but terrible at public relations, especially in matters where lying is used. The Americans are OK at bluffing (but not nearly as good as the Russians), yet are masters at lying.
Right now, I have been following a lot about Russia and Putin’s moves to revive the USSR. He has made this very clear by his actions, but in a recent statement he attempted to deny this, saying that in spite of all the moves apparently destined to make himself sit in power for life, he really was not trying to do this.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said he favors keeping term limits in place, arguing against a return to the Soviet-era practice of lifetime leaders.
Asked by a World War II veteran if he backed ending a ban on more than two presidential terms — which would allow Putin to continue ruling after 2024, when he will be 71 — the president said this would make it impossible to ensure an orderly transition of power.
“It would be very worrying to return to the situation in the mid-1980s, when heads of state stayed in power until the end of their days, one after another,” Putin said on a visit to St. Petersburg to mark the 77th anniversary of the lifting of the siege of Leningrad, according to the government newspaper Rossiiskaya Gazeta.
Putin proposed sweeping changes to the Russian constitution on Wednesday that would limit the powers of his successor as president by giving more authority to Parliament and the State Council, an advisory body, potentially allowing him to keep control of the country in another role. He also put forward a plan to tighten term limits by barring more than two mandates in total rather than two consecutive terms as now. Putin used that loophole to return to the Kremlin in 2012 after serving four years as prime minister. (source)
Putin is just giving the talk that he would give to attempt to appear not to be doing dictatorial things. However, the reality is what is happening.
Putin is consolidating power under a new Politburo, of which the result is going to be the creation of a new USSR but under a different name. The principle will be the same, but the application different.
I have written before that this has been a long-term goal of Putin’s. He believes that only by reviving the USSR can Russia survive. However, it was the USSR that put Russia largely into the disastrous situation she is in today, where abortion, disease, substance abuse, and declining birthrates without ending amid miserable economic conditions continue to worsen. Hence he looks to men such as Stalin for inspiration, and as I have noted, not only likes him, but wants to model himself and the new Russia that he is attempting to create after the dictator.
The USSR will not help Russia. Rather, it will likely put her into her final grave. Once one of the most fertile nations on earth with a large peasant population but able to settle her lands, Russia fertility and economic conditions permanently changed with the USSR. Once at over 200 million, Russia’s population with migration is at 142 million and continues to decline, and at the same time, natural migration from Central Asia is replacing the ‘native Russians’ with the descendants of the peoples who conquered and subjugated Russia for centuries.
Putin can lie about his intentions all he wants, which is what he appears to be doing. His purpose is to revive the old ways just as the rest of Europe is returning to different forms of nationalism right now with the hope of jump-starting their nations and economies once again, but this time without Christianity that used to be with them.
There will likely be a new Russia under Putin’s reign, or soon after his natural death. However, will she be able to survive the century is the coming question, and by that, to survive as she is, or to break up into a series of separate states in a potential change not seen since the days of Ivan Grozny?