Putin Ally’s ‘Deep State’ Twist Is Deep Russian People
A Kremlin ideologue says the secret of Putin’s resilience is an openly acknowledged system that will survive him.
The Kremlin is built to last.
Photographer: Mladen Aantonov/AFP/Getty Images
Vladislav Surkov, an aide to President Vladimir Putin, is known for his ability to formulate the concepts that drive the thinking of the Russian leader’s inner circle. Now, as the regime appears stuck without new ideas or much political space for bold action, he’s done it again.
In an article published in the daily Nezavisimaya Gazeta, the Kremlin ideologue who once invented the term “sovereign democracy” to describe the Putin regime, argues that the system of government Putin has built for Russia will outlast its creator the way Gaullism outlived Charles de Gaulle in France or the U.S. democracy survived the death of its founding fathers. The reason, according to Surkov, is that Putin’s state understands and works for the “deep people” — a concept that is antithetical to the “deep state” of Western democracies.