The Return of the King

[Cain]

Putin is seeking the 2012 Russian Presidency

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/25/world/europe/medvedev-says-putin-will-seek-russian-presidency-in-2012.html

I'm not entirely surprised, to be honest.  Medvedev is far too pro-Western, too economically (not socially) neoliberal, for most Russian political types to stomach (no Russian liberal party polls above 5%, notice).  Whereas Putin has that old time charm, and is bolstered by his dalliances with neo-eurasianist types, who have broad and cross-party appeal (and who hate Medvedev like poison).

[Jenne]

Niiiice.  Did he give it a "decent interval"?     Dude, if CLINTON could've...he WOULD'VE.

[Cain]

Sounds like Putin has taken a left wing turn, as well.  He's talking about progressive taxation, increasing pensions etc

[Cain]

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/europe/Medvedev-as-PM-Finance-minister-rebels-over-Putin-plan/articleshow/10122235.cms

MOSCOW/WASHINGTON: Russia's finance minister rebelled on Sunday against Vladimir Putin's plan to make President Dmitry Medvedev his prime minister if he returns to the Kremlin by saying he would not serve in the next government.

Foreign investors were alarmed by Alexei Kudrin's snub after Putin, who is now prime minister, announced he would run for president next March in an election that could extend his rule until 2024.

Kudrin, a Putin ally, has prime ministerial ambitions and said he had "disagreements" with Medvedev who may now struggle to establish his credibility as premier after being forced by Putin to renounce his dream of a second term as president.

"I do not see myself in a new government," Kudrin, 50, said in comments released in Washington.

Setting out his differences with Medvedev over the president's support for an increase in military spending, he said: "I think that the disagreements I have will not allow me to join this government."

Kudrin won the respect of investors as a guardian of financial stability by saving windfall oil revenues for a rainy-day fund which helped Russia through the 2008 global economic crisis.

[BadBeast]

I miss Boris.

[Faust]

Sounds like Putin has taken a left wing turn, as well.  He's talking about progressive taxation, increasing pensions etc

IIRC he did that before he was voted in the last time.

He will play whateve'rs popular to get into office and then promptly forget that.

[BadBeast]

Sounds like Putin has taken a left wing turn, as well.  He's talking about progressive taxation, increasing pensions etc

IIRC he did that before he was voted in the last time.

He will play whateve'rs popular to get into office and then promptly forget that.

Those Ruskies seem to have got the hang of how Democracy works then.

[Faust]

Sounds like Putin has taken a left wing turn, as well.  He's talking about progressive taxation, increasing pensions etc

IIRC he did that before he was voted in the last time.

He will play whateve'rs popular to get into office and then promptly forget that.

Those Ruskies seem to have got the hang of how Democracy works then.

Not only have they got your model down, but they do in a way that is stylish.

[Cain]

http://premier.gov.ru/eng/events/news/16622/

Come January 1st, 2012, a critical integration project will begin – the Common Economic Space of Russia, Belarus, and Kazakhstan. A project that, without any great exaggeration, portends a historical landmark not only for our three countries, but for all the states in the post-Soviet space.

On July 1, 2011 customs control over goods passing through the borders between our three states was lifted. This completed the establishment of a fully developed common customs area with clear prospects for implementing highly ambitious business initiatives. Now we are about to move from the Customs Union to the Common Economic Space. We are creating a huge market that will encompass over 165 million consumers, with unified legislation and the free flow of capital, services and labour force.

It is crucial that the Common Economic Space is rooted in coordinated action in key institutional areas such as: macroeconomics, ensuring competition, technical regulations, agricultural subsidies, transport, and natural monopolies tariffs. Later, this framework will also include common visa and migration policies, allowing border controls between our states to be lifted. In fact, we are adapting the experience of the Schengen Agreement that benefits Europeans as well as everyone who comes to work, study, or holiday in the EU.

By building the Customs Union and Common Economic Space, we are laying the foundation for a prospective Eurasian economic union. At the same time, the Customs Union and CES will expand by involving Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.

We plan to go beyond that, and set ourselves an ambitious goal of reaching a higher level of integration – a Eurasian Union.

How do we understand the prospects for this project? What shape will it take?

First, none of this entails any kind of revival of the Soviet Union. It would be naïve to try to revive or emulate something that has been consigned to history. But these times call for close integration based on new values and a new political and economic foundation.

We suggest a powerful supranational association capable of becoming one of the poles in the modern world and serving as an efficient bridge between Europe and the dynamic Asia-Pacific region. This project also implies transitioning to closer coordination in economic and currency policies in the Customs Union and CES and establishing a full-fledged economic union.

Its natural resources, capital, and potent reserve of human resources will combine to put the Eurasian Union in a strong competitive position in the industry and technology race, in the struggle for investors, for the creation of new jobs and the establishment of cutting-edge facilities. Alongside other key players and regional structures, such as the European Union, the United States, China and APEC, the Eurasian Union will help ensure global sustainable development.

Second, the Eurasian Union will become a focal point for further integration processes since it will be formed by the gradual merging of existing institutions, the Customs Union and the Common Economic Space.

Third, it would be a mistake to view the Eurasian Union and the Commonwealth of Independent States as opposing forces. Each institution has its place and its role to play in the post-Soviet space. Russia, together with its partners, intends to work actively towards enhancing this commonwealth and infusing it with the topical agenda.

I'm referring to the launching of specific, comprehensible and attractive initiatives and joint programmes across the CIS, including in the energy sector, transport, high tech, and social development. There are good prospects for cooperation in science, culture, and education, as well as in managing labour markets and creating a civilised environment for labour migration. We inherited a great deal from the Soviet Union, including infrastructure, a developed system of regional production specialisation, and a common space of language, science and culture. We are all interested in harnessing this resource for development.

Moreover, I am convinced that in economic terms the commonwealth must be firmly founded in extensive trade liberalisation. Holding the CIS presidency in 2010, Russia put forward an initiative to draft a new Free Trade Area Agreement based on WTO principles that envisages the complete lifting of various barriers. We hope to see significant progress in coordinating the member states' positions on this during the next Council of CIS Heads of Government meeting slated for later this month.

Fourth, the Eurasian Union is an open project. We welcome other partners to it, particularly CIS member states. At the same time, we are not going to hurry up or nudge anyone. A state must only join on its sovereign decision based on its long-term national interests.

My my, Putin is being ambitious. 

For what it's worth, I also think this isn't going to be anything like the Sovet Union.  Putin is at least partially influenced by the neo-Eurasian ideologues, for whom a project like the European Union, only more mystical and less economic, is a preferred model of politics to the traditional nation-state.

[Jenne]

THIS looks like an interesting development.