Short version: Russia has been riding high for the past several years, due to the high price of energy. (More on the basis of natural gas than oil, but they tend to track roughly together.) Money's been flowing into the government, and from there to the people, and the industry has been supporting much of the economy.
This has bolstered Putin, as he has cemented his hold on the country. Technically, he stepped down as President -- but he then took over as Prime Minister, changed the rules to make Prime Minister more powerful, and arranged for one of his proteges to be elected as President. And in a couple more years, he'll be eligible to run for President again. Since his policies have apparently made the country much richer, he's been very popular.
Now, though, with oil and gas prices way down, all those services that the state has been paying for from energy exports are getting cut, and the economy is generally tanking, far worse than here in the US. This is leading to civil unrest, and that's provoking gradually more draconian security measures. The latest I heard was that couple hundred thousand military who were supposed to be retired are being pulled back into active service; everyone assumes that this is so that they can put down any threats of internal problems...
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Date: 2009-02-23 04:01 am (UTC)This has bolstered Putin, as he has cemented his hold on the country. Technically, he stepped down as President -- but he then took over as Prime Minister, changed the rules to make Prime Minister more powerful, and arranged for one of his proteges to be elected as President. And in a couple more years, he'll be eligible to run for President again. Since his policies have apparently made the country much richer, he's been very popular.
Now, though, with oil and gas prices way down, all those services that the state has been paying for from energy exports are getting cut, and the economy is generally tanking, far worse than here in the US. This is leading to civil unrest, and that's provoking gradually more draconian security measures. The latest I heard was that couple hundred thousand military who were supposed to be retired are being pulled back into active service; everyone assumes that this is so that they can put down any threats of internal problems...