World News: Alexei Navalny Death Ushers in Putin’s Modern Dictatorship
- Details
- Category: World News - Europe
- Published on Tuesday, 20 February 2024 11:14
- Written by Olivier Longhi
While the death of Alexei Navalny has galvanized the West, it is not enough to motivate determined opposition to Vladimir Putin. Taking advantage of Western cynicism, Russia no longer hides that it has become a contemporary dictatorship.
With the death of Alexei Navalny, a part of the history of contemporary Russia is also disappearing. Like the murder of Anna Politkovskaya, a journalist who disappeared in 2007 for defying Putin's rule, Alexei Navalny's death is intended to send a warning, if they needed it, to all opponents of Vladimir Putin, whether inside or outside Russia.
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Of course, there is little danger to opponents of the regime if they live abroad, but the message is clear: avoid returning to Russia for your ultimate safety. From an external point of view, it is obvious that Russia is slowly but surely shifting from the status of a democracy to that of a dictatorship that no longer even bothers to hide it.
Terror and Banality
Exacerbated by the war in Ukraine, the despotic tendencies of Vladimir Putin's regime are becoming more outspoken every day. But to what extent? Is the goal to enslave and make the Russian people live in the darkest terror? Is this policy driven by the desire to push the West out of Russia's internal affairs? So many questions, and there are still many, that are emerging today.
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However, one thing is now becoming certain: the Russian government, totally swallowed up by Vladimir Putin and his relatives, now wants to be at the service of one man. And beware of anyone who would denounce the march forward towards a contemporary absolutism that harks back to the darkest hours of the Soviet Union.
What seems even worse, however, is that nothing and no one seems able to stand in the way of Vladimir Putin, whose presence and action, particularly in Ukraine, are gradually falling into the daily banality of a West that is gradually detaching itself from the excesses of a country that has become simply dangerous.
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Bipolarization
Weariness, disgust, disinterest, ... There is a plethora of feelings about the West's growing lack of attention to Russia, and the disappearance of Alexei Navalny is no exception. More broadly, a form of bipolarization of the European space seems to have taken place for several years, between a Russia in need of international recognition and a West potentially anxious to ward off the Russian danger, even if it gives its support, albeit measured to Ukraine.
If the death of Alexei Navalny marks a turning point in Russian history, it is nevertheless part of the already long list of opponents liquidated by Moscow, opponents certainly supported by the West but from so far away that Putin's power has never seen any real credible international challenge stand in front of it.
To sum it up with a certain form of realpolitik, whether regarding the Navalny case or Ukraine, Vladimir Putin's Russia has before it a boulevard marked out by the ill-concealed indifference of Westerners who are finally satisfied to be absorbed in tasks other than that of opposing Moscow.
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Bio: Olivier Longhi has extensive experience in European history. A seasoned journalist with fifteen years of experience, he is currently professor of history and geography in the Toulouse region of France. He has held a variety of publishing positions, including Head of Agency and Chief of Publishing. A journalist, recognized blogger, editor, and editorial project manager, he has trained and managed editorial teams, worked as a journalist for various local radio stations, a press and publishing consultant, and a communications consultant.
