Food has been crucial to the survival of regimes since the emergence of early states. Yet despite its significance, until recently food availability was rarely discussed as a principal political issue outside the global South. This essay centers on the political role of food in Putin’s Russia and the Kremlin’s longstanding goal of establishing nutritional autarky that would insulate the regime from dependence on food imports. We present the origins of Putin’s food policies, their ideological basis and the forms that they have taken since early 2000s. We also discuss Russia’s use of food as a weapon during the 2022 war in Ukraine.
Read More at:
Bread and Autocracy in Putin’s Russia | Journal of Democracy
Showing posts with label Regime. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Regime. Show all posts
4/28/22
Russia: Putin Is No Strongman: He’s Leading Russia into Ruin
It’s no surprise that Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe plans to make nice with Vladimir Putin later this week. The Russian president sure does look like a winner these days. Of course, there’s the obvious: In just two months, the United States—Moscow’s main competitor on the world stage—will be led by an incompetent demagogue whose most consistent foreign policy view is admiration for the Russian strongman. Even more impressively, this week Washington is convulsing with hysteria at the prospect that it was that very same strongman who put Donald Trump into the White House in the first place.
But that’s not all. In Europe, electoral victories by right-wing populists from Poland to Hungary to the United Kingdom have moved into positions of power leaders friendly towards Putin and tolerant of his misbehavior. Bulgaria and Moldova have just joined the club, and the next French elections, which will almost certainly result in another Putin-friendly European presidency, are just around the corner. That’s not to mention recent success of the Syrian regime, a key Russian ally which, after years of slaughter, seems to be making serious headway against the Islamic State.
Abe’s overtures toward Putin are then easy to understand given this narrative of a confident and ascendant Russia. His outreach may have raised eyebrows in Washington, but after all, the U.S. capital will be a very different place come January 20. And of course there’s no harm in trying to make a long-delayed land deal, especially if it will result in tangible benefits for both countries. There’s also the longer view: If the United States is indeed in relative decline, as the conventional wisdom holds, then stronger relationships with the world’s other powers must be in Japan’s interest.
Reasd more at: Putin Is No Strongman: He’s Leading Russia into Ruin | JAPAN Forward
But that’s not all. In Europe, electoral victories by right-wing populists from Poland to Hungary to the United Kingdom have moved into positions of power leaders friendly towards Putin and tolerant of his misbehavior. Bulgaria and Moldova have just joined the club, and the next French elections, which will almost certainly result in another Putin-friendly European presidency, are just around the corner. That’s not to mention recent success of the Syrian regime, a key Russian ally which, after years of slaughter, seems to be making serious headway against the Islamic State.
Abe’s overtures toward Putin are then easy to understand given this narrative of a confident and ascendant Russia. His outreach may have raised eyebrows in Washington, but after all, the U.S. capital will be a very different place come January 20. And of course there’s no harm in trying to make a long-delayed land deal, especially if it will result in tangible benefits for both countries. There’s also the longer view: If the United States is indeed in relative decline, as the conventional wisdom holds, then stronger relationships with the world’s other powers must be in Japan’s interest.
Reasd more at: Putin Is No Strongman: He’s Leading Russia into Ruin | JAPAN Forward
5/3/21
Russia: As Russia's confrontation with the West escalates, so has its crackdown on dissent at home
Nikita Golovizin faced int imidation and later arrest by Russian security services after he flew a European Union flag from his balcony next to a sign calling President Vladimir Putin a 'thief.'
For opponents of President Vladimir Putin in Russia, it seems as if there's no place that's safe these days — including in their own homes. "It was like 'bang, bang, bang' for half an hour," said Nikita Golovizin, an activist from the city of Voronezh about five hundred kilometres south of the capital Moscow, as he described how security agents parked themselves outside his apartment for several hours on one recent evening.
Read Mo0re at: As Russia's confrontation with the West escalates, so has its crackdown on dissent at home | CBC News
For opponents of President Vladimir Putin in Russia, it seems as if there's no place that's safe these days — including in their own homes. "It was like 'bang, bang, bang' for half an hour," said Nikita Golovizin, an activist from the city of Voronezh about five hundred kilometres south of the capital Moscow, as he described how security agents parked themselves outside his apartment for several hours on one recent evening.
Read Mo0re at: As Russia's confrontation with the West escalates, so has its crackdown on dissent at home | CBC News
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