Moments with Putin

Before you go any further, please note, I am not a: megalomaniac, Fascist, neo-Nazi, sadist, or psycho. But these are the words--or thoughts--people often conjure up when I tell them how much I admire Vladmir Putin.

Before you too go along and do it, you should let me give you some reasons as to why I love him. Firstly, being a leader does not necessarily mean being popular or liked--leaders make hard decisions, and I admire Putin for his ability to make said hard decisions (note how I never said "right" decisions.) After all, didn't Machiavelli announce to the leaders of the 14th-century world that it's good to be both feared and loved, but better to be feared alone than loved alone?

Putin certainly doesn't stir fear in the hearts of the Russian people the way Nicholas II might have. He is not a tsar, and I truly don't think that he plans to consolidate all of modern-day Russia into a modern-day tsardom under his leadership. Russia has always been an autocratic country. Putin's supposed tight-fisted control of Russian freedom is just that--supposed. According to the Hofstede Index, which measures a country's power distance, Russia has a whopping PDI of 93. In a high-PDI country, demonstration of authority is shown openly, and "politics is prone to totalitarianism" (source). The critics against Putin rail against him because they fail to understand two things: 1)  that the fall of Communism in Russia does not axe the prevailing cultural perceptions of power, and how it defines relationships amongst people (especially in politics), and 2) that a few short years in the Russian premiership and presidency cannot change the status quo quickly. This is Russia we're talking about--they held onto official fuedalism until the 1860s. Hardly the country to be pioneering new, cutting-edge social reforms and freedoms, no?

But the recent wave of globalization expects just that. Countries which are only now developing are expected, by their already-developed counterparts, to achieve the same standard of living and freedom that the already-developed countries have. We look at the BRICs today--of which Russia is part thanks to Putin's economic policies--and wonder why their citizens don't enjoy the same rights as citizens of the U.S. and the U.K. The answer is painfully simple: because they haven't had time. Globalization can achieve a lot of things quickly, it's true, but honest, lasting political and social reform will take more time than two prime ministerial terms to come about.

Then, there's the clincher: few people in Russia actually think Putin to be the freedom-devouring monster the West makes him out to be. In fact, in a YouTube interview, most Russians even said that Stalin--who truly was this monster--was necessary to help Russia move forward. Now imagine what Russians might say of Putin, who comes with much less ego and gulags (and, thankfully, also mustache-free.)

The point is, globalization places too much pressure on developing countries to achieve the status of already-developed countries. Obviously, it is the already-developed countries who place this pressure. These countries would do well to remember their own obstacles on the way to achieving the level of political freedom and the standard of living they currently enjoy. It was not an easy ride--so back off the BRICs, and back off Putin.