Vladimir Putin's power is clear. Every key position in the Russian government owes their good fortune to his favour. For example, under Russian law Putin can pick candidates for governor in Russia's regions if local lawmakers scrap popular polls [1]. Members of the Russian Parliament, the Duma, while not reliant on him personally picking them to win seats, are only there due to his popularity with the Russian population and any action which angers him will lead pretty quickly to their dismissal or worse, irrelevance.
Every oligarch owes their fortune to Putin. If they fall out of favour, like Mikhail Khodorkovsky, then you see what happens. But if you stay in his good graces, then Putin's friendship comes with windfalls. His childhood friend, Arkady Rotenberg, is reported to have won $7.5 billion in government contracts out of the Sochi Olympics [2].
Putin is by far the most influential and powerful individual in Russia today. While it is impossible to know for sure due to the opaque nature of Russian politics, various reports claim that since the crisis in Ukraine, Putin has been relying on a small inner circle of trusted colleagues, many of them former KGB officers, for decisions about the use of armed forces in Crimea and how to respond to the downing of MH17 [3]. While Putin pretty much runs foreign policy, domestically, Putin does delegate but still sets the course for major policy decisions.
There is no suggestion in his actions that he has been taking orders from someone else. His actions in the media may appear to be him reading from a script, which would make him pretty much the same as any politician around the world. Putin is no different in this regard as he carefully words his statements to send out specific messages, but this in no way indicates that he is actually an actor being controlled by shadowy forces.
Putin's actions in Crimea and Ukraine are a fairly understandable strategic move. By allowing his military to act in a way which sees them invade another country, and then disclaim all knowledge of any such activities, Putin relies on misinformation and propaganda to try and ensure that his actions do not have the normal sort of consequences. If Russia did invade another country, of course you would have to respond in a conventional manner. But if you use special forces allied with hired thugs, pro-Russian separatists and rebels, then is it an invasion? How do you respond to it?
Putin does not enjoy unquestioned power though. He does rely on the support of various factions within the government, including the hardliners who wanted more aggressive action in Ukraine, and a 'liberal' section which pushed for a ceasefire [4]. How much power these factions actually have is open to question, but they are the networks by which Putin can exert his control over various parts of the security and policy making apparatus.
In short, Putin runs Russia with an iron fist, however he does not have the sort of personal, micromanagement control that others have ascribed to him. His authority is absolute at this time, but no one is above politics, even Putin.
[1] - Putin signs law to allow him to pick Russian governors
[2] - http://ift.tt/1jMXrdh
[3] - http://ift.tt/1e0Yfew
[4] - http://ift.tt/29RhO9K
Read other related questions on Quora:
- Would the world be a safer, happier place if the USA were run more like Putin's Russia?
- What is Putin/Russia going to take next?
- What unique challenges do you face running a business in Russia?
from Quora http://ift.tt/29Z2kku
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