Russia After Putin: Where’s the Vision of Something Better?
Opposition leaders shouldn’t give up on the idea of integrating Russia into Europe.
Something to hope for.
Photographer: Mladen Antonov/AFP/Getty ImagesMikhail Khodorkovsky, the wealthiest of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s Russian opponents, gathered Russian intellectuals over the weekend for a conference in Prague and presented a vision of “the Russia of his dreams.” It looked a lot like Putin’s vision.
Russia lacks a strong opposition to the Putin regime for numerous reasons: The regime’s despicable pressure tactics, its silencing of media, its use of social network trolls, a shortage of charismatic leaders willing to take on the Putin machine, a general atmosphere of mistrust that prevents people from following anyone who’d like to lead. Regimes, however, have been toppled despite bigger obstacles than these.