Security Trumps Economics
Changes in key regional and federal level appointments, and the replacement of three regional governors with former security service officers -- two of them President Vladimir Putin’s former bodyguards – deepen the trend toward increased law enforcement influence in government. They also show that Putin’s trust and priorities remain with security, rather than with economic development.
The long-running struggle between law enforcement agencies continues, as the FSB managed to force out Yevgeny Murov, head of the rival Federal Protective Service, as well as the head of the Federal Customs Service. The fragile balance among several security agencies persists, though the FSB remains the most powerful among equals.
Several scandals and ill-considered statements led to the promised resignation of notorious Children’s Ombudsman Pavel Astakhov, who had started to undermine, rather than support, Putin’s legitimacy. But the crisis in the institution could result in its collapse.
The disqualification of numerous Russian athletes from the Olympics could become a political disaster for the ruling elites, if it’s eventually proven that the successes of recent years resulted from state-sponsored fraud, rather than from systemic sports development initiatives.
An overwhelming majority of Russians believe that disqualification of Russia’s Olympic athletes was politically motivated, and unfounded. The reigning public rationale is that the athletes either followed the rules just like everyone else, or else violated them just the way most athletes from other countries did. But those who admit that the Russian athletes might indeed have used forbidden substances, and be culpable, may end up eventually blaming the government sports agency.
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