Enemy within

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, a bully with no respect for free markets, a free press or democracy, has been feeling more unrestrained than usual.

He pities Ukraine for its political disorder. He blames the United States for the sharp decline in Russia’s main stock market and creating a lack of confidence among foreign investors. “Everything happening now in the economic and financial sphere began in the United States,” Putin told a televised government meeting. “This is not the irresponsibility of specific individuals but the irresponsibility of a system which claims leadership.”

He should save the pity for himself and the nation he is misruling. But Putin’s mistakes and abuses in office come with no domestic cost. There are legitimate reasons for Putin’s popularity, but far more illegitimate ones – such as his browbeating of the press and political opposition into submission.

Creating enemies abroad is Putin’s stock in trade, a specialty he honed during his KGB days. Thanks to the Kremlin propaganda machine, recent polls show that more Russians have negative attitudes about Americans and Ukrainians. The European Union evidently doesn't bother Putin so much, because he can play a divide-and-conquer game. Germany Chancellor Angela Merkel, for instance, came through for him in Moscow on Oct. 2 by publicly nixing Ukraine's chances of getting a NATO Membership Action Plan in December.

What really bothers Putin, of course, are pesky democracies. American and Ukrainian societies, far from perfect, have strong democratic features that a Putin-controlled Russia will never have. Deep down, under what must be one of the heaviest coats of cynicism, Putin must know that his power is illegitimate.

Now that worldwide recession seems inevitable, Putin is again on the prowl for scapegoats to hide his economic mismanagement.

Americans aren’t responsible for foreign investors leaving Russia in droves. The Kremlin is to blame for its heavy-handed tactics in squeezing companies such as British Petroleum in the TNK-BP deal. Putin must now find a way to come up with much-needed capital investment to reverse sagging oil and natural gas production.

The Kremlin plays by its own rules and should suffer the consequences. If there is justice, international condemnation will mount against Putin and he’ll find Moscow to be an even colder, darker and lonelier place this winter.