Vladimir Putin in Power
The Yeltsin Presidency, 1991-99
 Democratizing system
 Creating market
economy
 Liquidating an empire
 Seeking new geopolitical
role
Putin Becomes Prime Minister
 August 1999 Yeltsin fired
prime minister and
replaced him with 46year-old relatively
unknown Putin
 “No supporters, no
charisma, no ideology,
no popularity, no
experience—nothing
that made him
independent”
Mood in country at
time of Yeltsin’s
resignation
Need for strong, robust ruler
and stability. Impact of
economic difficulties and
corruption. Need to feel
good about Russia and its
accomplishments. Did
Russia have too much
freedom?
“Possibly the most bizarre fact about Putin’s ascent to power is
that the people who lifted him to the throne knew little more
about him than you do.” Masha Gessen
Putin’s Rise to Power
 Background. Born 1952, Leningrad
 Sambo, Leningrad University, law, German
 KGB, East Germany
 1990 returned to Leningrad, deputy mayor, brought in
German money
 After mayor dies, to Moscow, eventually head of FSB
 Appointment in 1999 barely ratified; premier and
acting president until elections in March 2000
The Young Volodya
Personality
 From First Person:
pragmatic, pugnacious,
thug, judo as philosophy;
lowered sense of danger;
no gambler; can be trusted
 Belonging to KGB a way of
thinking (hostility toward
dissent, inability to
tolerate variety, rejection of
everything alien,
suspiciousness,
secretiveness)
Masha Gessen’s Doubts
 Rumors he was adopted
 No one remembered boy
before school age
 Family had TV,
telephone, dacha
 Had a car at Leningrad U
 Supported hard liners at
time of 1991 coup?
Was there a
conspiracy?
to allow Yeltsin to
replace Gorbachev, to
broker demise of USSR,
& place him in debt of
KGB?
Gessen believes FSB
behind 1999 bombings
Putin as Acting
President
•Renewed war in
Chechnya, “We are
defending ourselves”
•Opposition at home
and abroad, but less so
after 9-11
•Conflated Chechnya
with our fight against
terrorists
2000-2004
Election, March 2000: Russia Votes for
Stability
 Won 53% of vote
 Asserted “Russia needs a
dictatorship of the law”
 71% wanted strong
leader; 59% a strong
state; 13% democratic
institutions
Program during First Term
 State building: Russia’s prestige in world and Eurasia
 Advocate of the market: oil exports stabilized economy
and led to robust growth rates
 Popularity stemmed from stability, robust public
figure, fight against corruption
 Growing consumption of middle class
Leadership Style
 Move toward centralization (appointed 7 regional
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representatives)
Relied on former KGB men, military officers, St.
Petersburg network, Siloviki
Attacked free press
Rebirth of symbols of past
Visible on world stage
Change in language of power from reform, progress,
renewal, democracy, modernization to stability, statehood,
order, sovereignty, greatness, power, patriotism
Putin on Stage
IV. Battle with the Oligarchs
 Amassed fortunes during privatization and funded
Yeltsin’s reelection; indirectly responsible for Putin
 Society enormously resented them (therefore, some
political gain in attacking them)
 A deal? Keep fortunes but stay out of politics? Did
Putin want to benefit from their support without
having to tolerate their independence?
 Economic growth or control?
Gusinsky and Media Most/NTV
 Arrested in 2000
 Sought to create free
national media network
and press
 Critical of Putin and
Chechnya
 Personal animosity
between them
 Charges economic,
nonpayment of debts
Boris Berezovsky
 Claims Putin was his
protégé
 The man behind Yeltsin,
but falling out with
Putin
 Lived in London until
death in 2013
 Insists Putin and FSB
bombed Moscow
apartments
Mikhail
Khodorkovsky
Political prisoner
or criminal?
“Should Russia be a democratic society
or an authoritarian one?”
 Arrested in 2003
 2001 set up Open Russia Foundation (to replace
George Soros); Kissinger, Lord Rothschild, US
ambassador
 Political aspirations; discussed creation of
parliamentary republic
 Charged with fraud, embezzlement
 Freed 2014
2004-2008
VA. 2003 Parliamentary Elections
 Kremlin emphasized
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threats
To double GDP,
overcome poverty,
modernize army
Removed Yeltsin people
5% barrier; United
Russia 38%
Defeat of liberals; free,
but arena of selfexpression narrowed
VB. 2004 Presidential Elections
 Putin did not campaign
 64% turnout, 71% vote for
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him
Drew on Russian
neoconservatism: a form of
loyalty to regime for
political class
Regime right, alternatives
worse
Cult of Putin
Would he run in 2008 or
be appointed Prime
Minister?
VC. Mysterious Deaths
 2006 Anna Politkovskaya
shot dead; Whistleblower A. Litvinenko
poisoned in London
same year; certain Putin
had her killed
Alexander
Litvinenko
Gessen: “all of these
possibilities, taken
separately, seem unlikely,
and taken together seem
almost absurd. The simple
and evident truth is that
Putin’s Russia is a country
where political rivals and
vocal critics are often
killed, and at least
sometimes the order comes
directly form the
president’s office.”
 Traces of thallium found in
him
VI. Putin Doctrine in Foreign Policy
Pro-Western Orientation, Priority for
Economic Interests, Normalization
 A. Relations with US:
strained over Kosovo and
NATO enlargement;
better after 9-11
 Start of 2000 best;
endorsed US military
presence in Central Asia
and Afghanistan
Post 2003
 Took European position
in 2003 Iraq war
 America took Russia for
granted, considered
important only when
dangerous
 61% believed US forcing
will on world
Why New Flexing of
Muscles?
•Disagreement within
Western world
•Disappointment with
help for economic
transformation
•War in Iraq
•Belief that West does
not want strong Russia
•Bush’s new missile
defense system
VII. Emergence of Putinism
 Several paths out of out of oligarchic capitalism; Putin
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chose state capitalism with support from apparatchiki
Putin regime reflected his ideas but also a reaction to
Yeltsin past. Putin phenomenon possible because
people wanted law and order
Statist from KGB who supports market; market
authoritarianism
Believes democratic institutions undermine state
Created single Party-State; revival of Russian
conservatism
Russia’s international prestige rose again under his leadership
2008-2012
Medvedev’s Background
 Born September 14, 1965,
in Leningrad, the only
child of two professors
 Completed PhD in
private, corporate, and
securities law
 Taught civil law
 Met Putin in mayor’s
office in early 1990s
Also had no ties to
the KGB
First leader with no
known links with
Communist Party
Youngest head of
state since Nicholas
II
Putin’s Puppet?
 Won in March 2008 with
70% of the vote
 Refused to debate other
candidates or to
campaign
 Positioned himself as
cautious liberal
 Appointed Putin his
Prime Minister
Began to Speak in Different Terms
 Claimed Russia needs
stronger political
opposition
 Criticized law that
toughened registration
of human rights groups
 Emphasized economic
vulnerability:
dependence on energy
extraction
Tandemocracy?
 Skolkovo (Russia’s Silicon
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Valley) and the transition
to the digital age
Unveils plan to improve
investment climate (and to
attack corruption)
Hinted he may not run
again
2011 changed electoral law
to 6-year presidency
2012 Putin becomes
president & appoints
Medvedev prime minister
Putin’s Third Term, 2012+
 February 2012 Pussy Riot
 May inaugural
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demonstrations
Stricter legislation
against LGBT
community
2014 Sochi Olympics
March 2014 Crimean
referendum
War in eastern Ukraine
Influence of philosopher Ivan Ilyin,
1883-1954
 Conservative Russian
monarchist in the
Slavophile tradition
 Disdained Western-style
democracy
A New Cold War?
 Joint Chiefs Chairman
Nominee Says Russia Is
Top Military Threat
 “Marine Commandant
Joe Dunford says
Ukraine can’t counter
Russian aggression
without lethal military
assistance”
Putin & Russia’s
Resurgence
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Country as great as fear it
inspires
State capitalism
Trappings of democracy
Nationalism, antiWesternism
Closed system, control over
information & money
“Russia will be great or will
not be”
1999-2008: real wages
more than tripled;
unemployment and
poverty more than halved