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War Inside the Kremlin
Putin needs a new political niche. One possibility: leader of the United Russia Party, whose candidate list he headed in this week's Duma races. As a substitute for an actual campaign, the Kremlin turned the election runup into a frenzy of Putin-worship. The focus on him helped keep people's minds off the clans' feuds—and averted any discussion of Russia's very real problems. The oil-powered economy may be soaring, but so is inflation, and labor unrest is breaking out. A pay strike recently shut down the Ford Motor Co. plant in Vsevolozhsk, near St. Petersburg, and roughly 1,500 teachers and nurses staged a protest outside Astrakhan's regional Parliament to demand better public-sector salaries. Resolving problems like these is likely to be a full-time job for the next president. That is, if he's not too busy breaking up fights among his bureaucrats and their private armies.
© 2007
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Member Comments
Posted By: eddiewhere @ 12/04/2007 6:17:32 AM
Comment: As you can see factions in Russia are causing destabilization. Russian security forces are corrupt and it is only a matter of time before weapons-grade materials begins to be smuggled and sold. In fact this has already happened. Eastern European crime families with connections in Russia and in former Russian republics can easily provide an avenue for these materials to enter into the hands of terrorist. Russia and China can turn against us in a second and we better be prepared. If the wrong leadership penetrates the Russian or Chinese governments we are in big trouble. This is why it is crucial that the next American President is able to manage this complicated relationship.