Putin cements his status as Russia’s new Tsar with next year’s presidential election
Acentury after Russia’s ultimately doomed experiment with communism, Russian President Vladimir Putin gears up for another presidential election, to order to secure his fourth term as President of the Russian Federation and rule over the largest landmass on earth. With his main rival Alexei Nevelny barred from running for President, Putin’s victory is a foregone conclusion. And despite vocal opposition to Putin from a small and dedicated band of protestors egged on by Western media and intelligence forces, the former KGB officer’s grip on power has never been stronger. But Russia faces all sorts of challenges that Putin is clearly struggling to deal with and the street protests against Putin are just the tip of the iceberg. There is also the banning of the Russian team from the upcoming Winter Olympics due to Russia’s systematic doping of athletes during the 1990s. Russia is also hosting the 2018 FIFA World Cup but its hard-handed policing might be controversial as will any action against homosexual fans whom rightwing Russian politicians have warned against attending. There are also Western sanctions against Russian businessmen and economic interests, coupled with the drop in the price of oil and gas that have hurt investments in Russia. This has led to high amounts of youth unemployment and economic inequality with the value of Ruble collapsing. An unintended consequence of Russia’s economic downturn has been the collapse of inbound Russian tourism into Goa over the past two years.
Yet, many Russians feel that Putin has rescued Russia from the dumps. Under his predecessor Boris Yelstin many Russians felt that Russia had become an American stooge. Putin has invested money in the Russian military, and new equipment bearing the Red Star has come online, including new ballistic missiles and nuclear submarines. Putin’s decisive action in keeping the Bashar al-Assad regime afloat torpedoed Barack Obama’s foreign policy. And while the US President Donald Trump fends off accusations of Russian meddling in the US Presidential elections last year, many Russians feel proud of the fact that their government and intelligence agencies managed to subvert American democracy. However, with allegations flying thick and fast and evidence emerging that Russian interests funded websites like Wikileaks, American-Russia relations are at rock-bottom levels, probably the lowest they have been since the fall of the Soviet Union. Indian and Russian relations while strong have frayed slightly during Putin’s term in office particularly with some military deals going sour and India put in a bind over Russian actions in the Crimea. Yet, our ties remain strong as Narendra Modi’s visit to the Kremlin earlier this year proved, and Russia remains one of India’s strongest allies, and we wish Vladimir Putin the very best ahead of his inevitable election victory.