The problem with a semi-authoritarian regime like Vladimir Putin’s is that people’s behavior is not fully under the leader’s control. And, in today’s Russia, this extends to the news media, which report far more often – and more boldly – on social challenges, and the anger they stoke, than outsiders might expect.
MOSCOW – In his widely broadcast annual press conference last month, Russian President Vladimir Putin was confident and condescending, animated only when criticizing Ukraine for skirmishes in the Black Sea or railing against the West’s “unfair” complaints about Russia’s behavior. Asserting that America’s withdrawal from the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty demands that Russia develop new weapons, he sneered, “And they should not whine later that we are allegedly trying to gain certain advantages.”
MOSCOW – In his widely broadcast annual press conference last month, Russian President Vladimir Putin was confident and condescending, animated only when criticizing Ukraine for skirmishes in the Black Sea or railing against the West’s “unfair” complaints about Russia’s behavior. Asserting that America’s withdrawal from the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty demands that Russia develop new weapons, he sneered, “And they should not whine later that we are allegedly trying to gain certain advantages.”