RUSSIA’S political system is often called a “power vertical”, with authority concentrated in the man at the top. So Vladimir Putin’s yearly presidential address carries a special weight. The address “is not a conversation with the people,” writes Andrei Kolesnikov of the Carnegie Moscow Center, a think-tank, but a set of coded ideological guidelines for the Russian elite. This year’s speech on December 3rd was curiously subdued, a departure from the confrontational course Mr Putin has charted since returning to Russia’s presidency in 2012.
To be sure, Mr Putin started off with the threat of terrorism. As usual, he implied that America was to blame for “decid(ing) to oust the unwanted regimes (in the Middle East) and brutally impose their own rules”, precipitating civil war. He lashed out against Turkey, Russia’s new nemesis since it shot down a Russian fighter-bomber two weeks ago, threatening that further measures would follow the trade sanctions Russia has already imposed.
But most of the speech was more pacific, focusing on the economy, the need to prepare for low oil prices, and social issues. Ukraine was not...Continue reading
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