UPDATE: The Putinization of Russia extends to Georgia…

For years, I’ve warned about the Putinization of Russia — a calculated campaign by Vladimir Putin to dismantle the democratic reforms championed by his predecessors. If you’ve been paying attention, you’ll recognize this as the work of a neo-Stalinist president determined to reverse the strides made by Mikhail Gorbachev and Boris Yeltsin.

Gorbachev, in a last-ditch effort to salvage the crumbling Soviet Union, introduced glasnost (openness) and perestroika (restructuring) to breathe life into its stagnant bureaucracy and economy. Yeltsin, Russia’s first post-Soviet president, launched a sweeping privatization of state-owned enterprises, laying the groundwork for what could have become a more open society.

Despite his rhetoric (and George W. Bush’s naïve praise for his supposed democratic values), Putin has been relentless in consolidating totalitarian power. I’ve chronicled his efforts over the years, including on 25 March 2005, in President Putin Reforming Russia in His Own Image (here); on 1 June 2005, in Vladimir Putin Sends Political Dissident Mikhail Khodorkovsky [the Richest Man in Russia] Off to the Gulag! (here); and on 18 May 2006, in Putin’s Wife Reveals His (Old-Fashioned) Philosophy on Domestic Affairs (here). Each outlines how he’s systematically dismantled democratic norms under the guise of reform.

Putin has also been determined to revive Soviet-era influence over the newly independent states of the former USSR. On 3 January 2006, in Putin Fires First Salvo in New Cold War in Europe (here), I detailed how he strong-armed Ukraine by cutting off its gas supply — delivered through Russian pipelines —to extort higher prices and reassert Russian dominance. That move signaled his willingness to weaponize energy as a tool of political coercion, reigniting Cold War tensions in the process.

So it’s hardly surprising that recent reports suggest Putin has now directed his Stalinist ire toward Georgia. Since the Rose Revolution of 2003 ousted pro-Russian leaders, Georgia’s pro-Western president, Mikhail Saakashvili, has openly scorned Putin’s Russia. He’s also made no secret of his ambition to bring Georgia into both the EU and NATO — an agenda that directly threatens Putin’s vision of reasserting Russian dominance over former Soviet states.

“I know what it is to try to build your own nation when danger is knocking on the door.”
—Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili

Naturally, no one expected Putin to tolerate Saakashvili’s public defiance without retribution. True to form (and his KGB roots), Putin deployed spies to destabilize Saakashvili’s democratically elected government.

As a result, relations between these once-comrade nations have devolved into a frosty standoff — eerily reminiscent of the Cold War tensions that once defined U.S.-Soviet relations.

In late September, for instance, Georgian authorities arrested five Russian military officers on charges of espionage. In response, Putin lashed out, accusing Saakashvili of “terrorist and hostage-taking activities” and branding him a puppet of Western governments, especially the United States.

In a show of escalating jingoism, Putin recalled his ambassador and ordered all Russian citizens evacuated from Georgia. Then, echoing his strong-arm tactics against Ukraine, he imposed an economic blockade, halting transport and mail communications with Georgia. To top it off, The Guardian reports that he’s now unleashing his signature pressure tactic: jacking up gas prices to tighten the screws even further.

But there’s more. According to Pravda, Russian police recently demanded a list of schoolchildren with Georgian names — allegedly to deport them under the guise of cracking down on illegal immigration. This brazen targeting prompted Saakashvili to condemn Putin for:

Russia Vladimir Putin, Georgia Mikhail Saakashvili