Free Republic

Despite the alleged meeting between Vladimir Putin and Yevgeny Prigozhin, and a witch hunt for June 23rd military collaborators, the ramifications of the Ukraine war which among others has seen massive support for Kyiv, and neutral Sweden as well as Finland turning to NATO for security, the psychological toll in the Kremlin and army was present before the mutiny.

Dear friends, I once again address all the citizens of Russia. Thank you for your composure, your solidarity, and your patriotism. This civic solidarity has shown that any blackmail and any attempts to cause internal turmoil are doomed to failure. I repeat, the highest level of social consolidation, executive and legislative power at all levels, and a firm, unambiguous position of supporting the constitutional order were taken by public organizations, religious confessions, and leading political parties. Virtually all of Russian society. One key thing united and rallied everyone: responsibility for the fate of the Fatherland. I would like to stress...

Russian President Vladimir Putin rides in a submersible in the Baltic Sea near Gotland Island July 15, 2013 to explore a sunken ship. [Photo: Imagine China]

The brouhaha over Russian President Vladimir Putin's alleged rollback of democratic reforms is a case of misplaced indignation. Putin is anything but an all-powerful autocrat. But the reasons have nothing to do with democracy. They have to do with Russia's schizophrenic and dysfunctional political system, which creates the illusion of concentrating power in formal institutions, while clannish informal groups exercise real power in a chaotic, never-ending struggle for personal gain. That this system is undemocratic may be the least of our worries. It might not even be stable. When conventional wisdom goes bad, it starts to wear its internal contradictions...