Unbreakable Union of Free Republics!
Posted by Adam Blickstein
Russia's first post-Soviet military parade, to be held this Friday, three days after Dmitry Medvedev is inaugurated President and the day after Vladimir Putin's named Prime Minister, is retro in more ways than one:
The annual Victory Day parade that marks Nazi Germany's defeat may look impressive, but some Russian commentators think much of the military spending has been squandered through corruption, cronyism and mismanagement....Putin's Kremlin has poured $150 billion into its armed services, yet those services remain saddled with old weaponry and facilities...The bottom line is that "the Russian military forces are in a bad state, and the situation is getting worse."
Even so, Putin remains resilient:
"For the first time in many years heavy military equipment will be used. This is not sabre-rattling. We are not threatening anyone.... This is a demonstration of our growing defence capability," Putin said.
Putin is an efficient administrator, and even more so a fan of Stalinist practices. Just like the secretary at the dentist's office, they have a tendency to play interference. The fact that the populous goes along for the ride is a hint that Russia still has a long way to go before the political culture can support even a remnant of responsible participation let alone democracy.
Posted by: Aaron | May 05, 2008 at 02:39 PM
One wonders why the United States has expanded NATO and built missile bases for a very weak Russian conventional threat. However Putin or Medvedev may try to make Russia more dependent on nuclear forces which are cheaper than conventional forces. This why further expansion of NATO is dangerous because it might led to a new nuclear arms race.
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