Far East Cynic

Minister Mentor Putin?

I’m sure E @ L would agree:

Putin positions himself as Russia’s Lee Kuan Yew-One hears much about the “death of democracy” in Russia these days, especially as current President Vladimir Putin muses openly about slipping into the office of prime minister to sidestep constitutional term limits. As a former Sovietologist with a degree in Russian literature, I find this story line all too familiar. But rest assured, I likewise see America’s Cold War victory remaining secure.Russia enjoyed no real democracy in the 1990s, instead suffering an economic chaos that left society prey to all manner of gangsters. Not surprisingly, average Russians craved a return to order, which finally arrived in the political ascendancy of Putin’s “siloviki,” or “power guys,” who spent their formative years working for the KGB.

During its final years, the dysfunctional Soviet system muddled along thanks primarily to those who operated “on the left” (na levo), or in the black markets, and those who operated “on the right” (na pravo), or in the security services. The former kept the decrepit economy from collapsing; the latter kept the decrepit regime from collapsing.

Democracy is not on Singapore’s menu-stability and the advancement of Chinese Singaporeans is. At least now we know where the good Vladimir learned it. (Or did MM Lee really spend time in the KGB?).

Read more here and here.