Posted on 06/02/2006 11:59:09 AM PDT by Tailgunner Joe
“The Party has been, and remains, the main organizing and coordinating force capable of leading the people along the path of profound Socialist renewal.…”
—Mikhail Gorbachev
With the fall of the USSR, the Russian post-Soviet elite was demoralized by the collapse of Soviet power and sought a new direction. For a time, ideology took a back seat to market reforms, competition, and repudiation of government control. However, “men of the state” and “men of force”—known in Russian as “derzhavniki” and “siloviki”—have reversed this trend.
The resurgence of nationalist rhetoric has accelerated markedly since the 2000 election of Russian President Vladimir Putin and the rise of oil prices. With Putin’s departure scheduled for 2008, his United Russia party will require more than fond memories of the popular president to maintain the support and trust of the people. It needs a coherent political doctrine. This effort has finally been accomplished.
In February 2006, Vladislav Surkov, Putin’s deputy chief of staff and chief political strategist, delivered an extensive speech at a United Russia political seminar.[1] For the first time, he outlined the underlying ideology, goals, and aspirations of the Russian Federation’s largest political party. Surkov’s speech was subsequently published in two consecutive issues of Moskovskie Novosti, a formerly liberal weekly, under the title “The General Line” in direct allusion to the term applied to Soviet Communist Party policy between the 1920s and 1980s. The speech was later widely reprinted elsewhere, and media leaks from the Kremlin indicate that such wide circulation amounts to publication of the new official Kremlin doctrine.[2]
Surkov’s speech defines the strategic direction that Putin wants Russia to pursue, the goals to which she should aspire, and how the party can lead the country to achieve those goals.
(Excerpt) Read more at heritage.org ...
Just Damn.
"By maintaining control of the executive branch, the judiciary, security services, government-owned companies, and the parliament, United Russia officials will be able to secure control over their share of the profits from nationalized resources[9] and, in many cases, expand the assets that they effectively control. At a recent conference in Moscow, Minister of Economic Development and Trade German Greff cited the acquisition of assets by large state-owned companies as a threat to Russia’s economic health. Minister of Finance Alexei Kudrin echoed this sentiment, asserting that the state should play a smaller role in Russia’s economy.[10] Economists in Russia, Venezuela, and Bolivia agree that asset holding by the “state” or “people” in reality means beneficiary ownership by specific politicians and senior bureaucrats."
The state controls all the assets and then uses them for the benefit of all.
Russia's "prosperity" will last exactly as long as oil prices stay through the ceiling. Unfortunately, via their relationship with China, Iran, Venezuela, and others, they may create enough uncertainty and disruption in the world to keep oil prices high for long time---their transparent goal.
However, oil prices do have a tendency to fall over time.
"To what extent will Russia develop a government of laws with economic and political freedom?"
0
There is a saying:"plan Napoleona - svody Agafoshki-pechnika" [Planning is worthy of Napoleon, but the botched execution belongs to the "handyman" Agaphon]. All the great, and not so great, planning needs to be corrected for the systemic effects: alcoholism, corruption, disorganization, waste etc. Thus ANY planning whatsoever inevitably results in muddling through. And if one is to believe CIA factbook, at the existing extraction levels they have about 20 yrs worth of oil and 80 yrs of gas. [while these numbers are imprecise, they give a ballpark time frames].
"And if one is to believe CIA factbook, at the existing extraction levels they have about 20 yrs worth of oil and 80 yrs of gas. [while these numbers are imprecise, they give a ballpark time frames]."
Quite interesting.
At present, Russia seems to be another Mexico in thier political organization but with much grander ambition.
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