Putin 7.0. The World’s Future is Determined in Moscow

It’s time to talk about Vladimir Putin, who is turning seventy this October.

What is the role of this man in Europe and in the world? Why does the entire planet keep eyes on him? Finally, who is him – our contemporary, always in the limelight, admired by billions?

Probably the most eloquent was the head of Myanmar Min Aung Hlaing who called Mr.Putin “a leader of the world”, for it was him who controlled and organized the world’s stability. Under Mr.Putin’s leadership, according to Min Aung Hlaing, Russia moved to a leadership position globally.

Those who dislike Putin immediately said that it was nothing but a regular stilted oriental flattery. However, if we assume this, the authors of the popular British series “Years” would also be among flatterers. For one of their characters would state in the very first episode that the world is ruled by three presidents – those of Russia, China and the United States.

Probably, this statement best reflects the current state of affairs on our planet. There are three superpowers, or, rather, three centers of power. Hence, decisions made in each of them and relations between them determine the future of the mankind.

Russia, which is one of those power centers, can no longer be imagined as separate from the personality of Vladimir Putin. In fact, the words “Putin” and “Russia” have turned into synonyms these days. Many in the world would dispute or even challenge decisions that Russia makes, but no one would ever doubt their importance.

Russia’s huge role in the world seems natural, for it is a superpower, and hardly could it be otherwise. However, just several years ago its prominence would not have seemed so self-evident.

Vladimir Putin first came to power in 1999.  At that juncture, Russia just started to recover from one of the worst economic and social crises in history caused by the disintegration of the Soviet Union. It seemed that Russia’s glory was finally left in the past, akin to the grandeur of other collapsed empires.

Within less than twenty years Putin proved that anyone who thought so or who believed that history had ended in accordance with the predictions of the American philosopher Francis Fukuyama, was wrong. Russia, which at the end of the 20th century seemed to have lost its significance and influence, has become one of the most prominent powers in the world.

Here are some numbers. Russia’s nominal GDP was a little under $196 billion in 1999, and it reached $1.7 trillion in 2019, right before the pandemic. Putin has increased his country’s wealth tenfold, if counted nominally. In terms of purchasing power parity, the numbers are even more impressive, for Russia ranks 5th-6th in the world, according to the World Bank.

Russia’s influence in the world obviously and undoubtedly exceeds its economic weight. Under Mr.Putin’s rule, Russia has friends and foes in the world and in Europe in particular, just as Putin himself has admirers and haters. However there are no communities or individuals who would treat Russia and its leader indifferently.

So why does Russia have such a prominent stance in the world? How could Mr.Putin have managed to create a system that influences so profoundly the development of countries in Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America?

That’s not exactly about the economic success. Money and resources can only provide opportunities that have yet to be seized. Rich nations and influential nations are not synonyms.

Military capacity is neither the case, although it was definitely Mr.Putin who had raised the Russian military from the shambles, restoring its strength.

It would be reasonable to propose that the Russian leader has become the most influential man on the planet thanks to the values he has kept defending and promoting unswervingly.

While Europe and other Western countries have been swiftly abandoning traditional values that had shaped up Europe and the West (the Christian values to be more precise), Vladimir Putin has been turning Russia into the embodiment and the guardian of those values. Today’s Russia has enough sovereignty to ensure the choice of its people, defend the traditional family as the union of a man and a woman, promote a sane lifestyle and, which is most important, to protect its own way of life from any imposition of external opinion, even if the latter comes from the “shining city upon a hill”.

Neither is Russia afraid to provoke the ire of the West, nor considers it necessary to become part of the East. This independence and readiness to defend its own interests is the example and standard that Vladimir Putin’s Russia sets for the rest of the world. For a country thrives and is treated in a decent manner only when it is truly independent and has a leader who is not afraid to stand up for the interests of the people under his rule.

Something extra needs to be said. The sovereignty the Russian leader keeps talking about is in fact the core element in the set of the European civilization values. It is impossible to defend any other values without protecting this one. A nation unable to determine its own destiny has no ability to decide by itself what is good and what is bad for it.

So, by defending rigorously Russian freedom, sovereignty and grandeur, as well as by protecting traditional values, Mr. Putin set an example that many leaders and ordinary people follow. Indeed, it would be right to affirm that the Russian leader has already written his name in history. He has undoubtedly reserved his place among the greatest statesmen of all times.

The details could be left for historians to discuss, analyze and crystalize. But, clearly, today the world’s future is determined in Moscow thanks to Vladimir Putin, the truly grand leader.