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Putin is a System, Not a Man [1]

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Date: 2022-09-13

While much of the world's focus has been on the Ukrainian-Russian war, it has been even more focused on the man that is at the center of events, Russian President Vladimir Putin. Seen as almost a caricature of a supervillain, or the reincarnation of Hitler or Stalin with only this singular entity at the apex of Russian society. To view President Putin in this way is fundamentally flawed. Rather Putin is the representation of a Russian state security apparatus that has been in place since the Soviet period and possibly earlier.

After the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the state security systems were not wholly dismantled or reformed in nearly all of the former republics. Selected strongmen that were the previous Soviet leaders such as Lukashenko (Belarus), and Nazarbayev (Kazakhstan) among others took over their countries and ruled with an increasing iron fist to secure their power. Putin, after his departure from the KGB, became part of the political machine in St. Petersburg. Proving to be adept in the Russian political system, he rapidly climbed his way to the top as Yeltsin’s successor.

One only stays at the top if the system of military generals and state security leaders benefit from that individual being there. Every dictator knows they are supported by a pillar built on mutual patronage from key supporters and repressing the enemies of those supporters. Thus, the system and the strongman both endure in a cynical symbiotic relationship.

Thus, looking at Russia through the singular lens of Putin being the supreme power without also acknowledging the system that supports him is dangerous. If Putin were to retire tomorrow, another strongman selected by the system will take his place. Even more concerning, is if Putin's successor proves to be more capable and competent than Putin then that would make a bad geopolitical situation even worse. Rather, we must see the dismantling of the system as being necessary to stop Russia’s neo-imperial ambitions than hoping for the removal of just the leader at the top. The Russian president is at most an administrator moving patronage among various factions while keeping his own position secure and this is true whether it’s Putin, Medvedev, or even Yeltsin.

And here we turn to Ukraine. Ironically, Russia seems to have been more prepared economically than militarily when it chose this war of imperial expansion into Ukraine. With the prospect of military defeat on the horizon, we must look carefully at how the Russian state system will respond. No doubt Putin is starting to be set up as the fall guy and the western media, being so focused on him, may inadvertently be giving the Russian state system an out by ignoring all of the key power players that stood to benefit from the invasion. In addition, the Russian people can choose to ignore the state system that runs their country in lieu of their elected system, but if they do so then catastrophes such as the military mis-adventure in Ukraine will continue and they will mount. And as this happens they will look at their brethren in Ukraine that took the long and difficult road to pull up the system by its roots and transform it into a real democracy. If Ukraine can become a democracy, so can Russia and that is what truly terrifies the Russian state security system.

Putin will be gone someday, but true peace will not be realized as long as the system that supports him remains.

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/9/13/2122646/-Putin-is-a-System-Not-a-Man

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