The Latest from Moscow

How tragically unsurprising:

Putin now dictator? Russia court bans opposition

Russia's next parliament is likely to have no genuine opposition after a court in Moscow yesterday banned a leading liberal party from standing in elections.

From the Guardian article:

Russia's next parliament is likely to have no genuine opposition after a court in Moscow yesterday banned a leading liberal party from standing in elections.  Russia's supreme court announced that it had liquidated the small Republican party, claiming that it had violated electoral law by having too few members. The party is one of very few left in Russia that criticises President Vladimir Putin.

…"The march's leaders are being called in by police and intimidated. We are half a step away from a police state," Denis Bilunov, a member of the march's organising committee, told the Guardian. "There isn't much point in talking about democracy in Russia any more."

The people constantly droning about how Bush is creating a dictatorship may want to take notes at this point on what the real thing looks like.  It’s unfortunately just another step on the dark road down which Russia has been traveling for a while now.

Both Russell and I traveled in Asia, last fall, and visited Vladivostok briefly.  It gave the impression of a place longing for better things, but burdened by its history.  Particularly when compared to the emerging prosperity we saw in Shanghai and Dalian, Vladivostok was visibly struggling—polluted and threadbare.  Yet everywhere, from the store fronts to the fashions, to the cars I saw signs of a people deprived for a long time, who wanted what so many people in the West take for granted: freedom, prosperity, the good things in life.  The way things are going, I fear they may see little of any of those things.

Meanwhile, the Cold War may have returned from its post-Gorbachev hiatus, and many people have failed to notice.

Comments

[Russell Lutz]

I think the syllogism "Be more democratic and you'll be more prosperous" might be a bit of a stretch. Though, from the stats, it appears "Be more like Western Europe and you'll be more prosperous" does seem to carry some weight. (Luxembourg's per capita income is about 50% greater than the US!)