Russia in Crisis - Could Disintegrate as Nation Like USSR?
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Russia in Crisis
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Could Russia Disintegrate LIke the Old USSR?
Above: Moscow protestors take to the streets with torches
Economic Collapse Threatens Gov't
Riots in the Streets
( Our Trends-Analysis predicted this would happen)
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Editor's Note: Here is a compilations of stories concerning the rapidly unfolding unrest inside Russia. Could Russia disintegrate like the old USSR and collapse into a smaller set of nations? How would that impact Biblical Prophecy theories about Russia being the Magog of Ezekiel 38-39? We're not predicting a disintegration, by any means, at least not at this point, but based upon the latest developments, who knows?
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The economic crisis is rapidly pulling Russia's government to the brink of collapse and anarchy. The worldwide financial crisis is abruptly ending an oil-driven boom in Russia. Russian citizens are expressing their anger by taking it to the streets. The Russian rouble has been falling steadily against other currencies for months, making it the world's third worst performing currency this year, and industry is disintegrating.
Former world chess champion Garry Kasparov has been at the forefront of a groundswell of public disapproval of the Russian government. Kasparov recently stated: "if the working people of Russia decide that they have had enough, that will be the end of it. It happened to Gorbachev, and it almost happened to Yeltsin.”
Vladimir Putin, the Russian prime minister, faces signs of an unprecedented mutiny within his own government that threatens to undermine his once unassailable authority.
Subordinates have begun openly to defy Mr Putin, a man whose diktat has inspired fear and awe in the echelons of power for nine years, according to government sources. Meanwhile a rift is emerging between Mr Putin and President Dmitry Medvedev, the figurehead whom he groomed as his supposedly pliant successor.
As Russia's economy begins to implode after years of energy-driven growth, Mr Putin is facing the germs of an unexpected power struggle which could hamper his ambition to project Russian might abroad.
Mounting job losses and a collapse in the price of commodities have triggered social unrest on a scale not seen for at least four years, prompting panic among Kremlin officials more accustomed to the political apathy of the Russian people.
The unease was deepened on the last day of January, after thousands of protestors marched through the Pacific port city of Vladivostok and other cities, including Moscow, demanding Mr Putin's resignation for his handling of the flailing Russian economy. At least two senior officials in the Russian Far East had previouisly countermanded an order by Mr Putin to use force to disperse anti-government protests, a source close to the Kremlin said. For a more comprehensive look at Russia's potential implosion, LINK HERE. The NY Times is more optimistic in its assessment but admits Putin's government is in serious trouble.. LINK HERE.
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Global Financial Crisis Sparks Unrest
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Dissent Begins To Spread Across Russia
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The Moscow Times...
Thousands Rally In Anger
Angered over mounitng economic problems, thousands of people took to the streets in Moscow and other cities around Russia over the weekend to denounce President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in the larges display of public discontent in recent years. Full details, LINK HERE.
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Violent Clashes in Moscow
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BBC Reports:
Thousands Protests In Russia
Includes Video Report
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Kremlin Fears Deep Unrest
Sociologist Yevgeny Gontmakher has painted a disturbing picture of what might emerge from the financial crisis.
As Gontmakher sees it, a provincial industrial town will see huge protests after massive layoffs at its main factory next year. The authorities scramble haphazardly to contain the unrest. Violence will spread, ultimately reaching Moscow.
The scenario, published under the headline "Novocherkassk 2009" in Vedomosti last month, is purely fictitious. But it triggered a very real reaction from the authorities. The government's media watchdog fired off a warning to Vedomosti that it was inciting extremism. Vedomosti is part of Independent Media Sanoma Magazines, the parent company of The Moscow Times. LINK
Gontmakher, a deputy social protection minister and Kremlin official in the 1990s, said he had not expected such a response from the government, but the threat is real and growing daily as the crisis takes it toll. "Of course they are worried, and they should be," he said of the government.
But Gontmakher is by no means alone in arguing that Russia's political stability, seen as a major achievement of Putin's eight-year presidency, is deceptive. The crisis has already led to a wave of layoffs across the country, despite the fact that Russian companies traditionally reduce wages before shedding staff.
Vladimir Ryzhkov, a former independent State Duma deputy and liberal opposition activist, said much of the crisis has been brought on by the government and its refusal to deregulate the economy, be held accountable by the parliament and allow political competition.
"The Kremlin has enough money to keep the situation under control for a few months. But in the medium term, political changes are inevitable, and there will be clashes between powerful political groups," so says Nikita Belykh, governor of Kirov.
The government's financial capabilities are largely linked to oil prices, which have fallen to less than $50 a barrel from a high of $147 in July.
"If oil falls below $20, there will be a revolution," said Vladimir Pribylovsky, a political analyst with the Panorama think tank.
He said Putin's popularity rested on the fact that ordinary people had gotten a share of the riches, in stark contrast to the 1990s when a tiny minority got very rich while the majority sank into poverty.
"Crises will break out left and right if the Kremlin oligarchy can no longer share the wealth with the people," Pribylovsky said.
Putin's popularity is almost entirely built on the economic boom, so it could crumble if the economy goes bust, said Olga Kryshtanovskaya, a sociologist who tracks Kremlin politics. "Everyone was happy as long they got government money," she said.
There is much more to this particular story, LINK HERE to read all of the various elements describing the situation in much greater detail.
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