Paige Reynolds | Contributing Writer
Who really is Putin? In light of recent events, this question is hopefully playing on minds other than just my own. Indeed, as a new resident of Mother Russia, taking an Erasmus year here, it is something I find myself wondering more and more as my time in this very different land unfolds.
Most of you have hopefully seen the fantastic photos of the world leaders getting all warm and cuddly with some koala bears at the recent G20 conference. Putin, however, didn’t quite look at ease. Perhaps, he was amongst the select few who realise the severity of the chlamydia outbreak amongst 90% of the Australian koala bear population? However, more likely is that his cold and seemingly brutish character simply does not gel well with the cutesy image of politicians holding fluffy animals for a photo opportunity.
Whatever the case, photos of Putin being caricatured as an evil villain, some kind of 21st century Hades, are not difficult to find. The sad thing is, in the west, it seems that ideas and images of Putin and Russia go hand in hand, and this is simply not the case. Separating the man from the country is one of the most important things I have learnt since arriving in the Motherland, and something my fellow Russian’s continue to encourage me to do – the two are not synonymous, and one is not representative of the other by any means.
Putin is, unfortunately, a 62 year-old ex-KGB agent who frankly would receive a first-class double honours degree in Ruthless Leader Studies, and could a run a course on how to be hated by the US. He certainly has been involved in some shady business. From accusations of poisoning opposition leaders (Litvinenko), the whole Khodorkovsky palava, and potential involvement in the murder of the odd journalist (notably Anna Politkovska) it is easy to see why he is constantly demonised.
However, some slack has got to be given, and there is credit where credit is due. Putin has remained in the top two ranks of Russian power for nearly 15 years, and he wasn’t named Forbes’ most powerful man of 2013 for no reason. After the fall of the Soviet Union, a decade of uncertainty both economically, politically and socially ensued. Freedom came all too quickly for the Russian people, and led by the decrepit drunkard that was Yeltsin, the late 1990s left many people disillusioned and longing for the days when life, although basic and censored, was stable.
This is when Putin’s hard-line policies and no-bullshit attitude can begin to be understood. Putin offers stability, a chance for prosperity, and perhaps even the opportunity to restore Russia’s greatness on a world scale. Maybe our violent distaste for the man grows simply out of fear?
All in all, Russia still has some pretty large hurdles to climb. During my past 3 months in Moscow, the patriarchal and sexist attitudes I have personally experienced, and the homophobia and racism I have witnessed, leave me wondering if Putin needs to do more than simply offer strength and stability. He’s not an evil dictator, but in the increasingly interconnected world we inhabit, he’s going to have to jump on that 21st century progressive-equality-for-all bandwagon at some point – or else a new brand of digital Iron Curtain might be looming once again.
