Arriving Somewhere

Via Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty

“I think we are seeing with Mr. Putin the final gasp of the Soviet era. The Soviet system is dead and the Soviet Union has disintegrated, but the Soviet elite still dominates Moscow, politically, and through Moscow, it dominates Russia. But that elite is increasingly fading from the scene. It is also increasingly self-isolated…. I expect that over the next several years, we’ll see far-reaching changes in Russia. Especially when the younger, more genuinely post-Soviet elite begins to push to the top.” — Zbigniew Brzezinski, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter’s national security adviser, in a 7 May telephone interview with RFE/RL’s Romania-Moldova Service.

While it is true that the Soviet elite still dominates, I don’t feel quite so optimistic about the future. Putin is certainly doing everything he can to consolidate power under his authoritarian leadership.