Russia’s Vladimir Putin has made blaming the west his main political platform. 

Since Putin decided he wanted to be President of Russia again, not much has gone his way – Believing himself to have been the one who “saved Russia, he assumed that the people would welcome him back with open arms.  However, there has been a loud public outcry over the political manoeuvring, with a growing number of Russian citizens angry that Vladimir Putin not only decided he would return to power…but that he could return to power.

Since the escalating back-lash, Putin has tried to divert attention from internal strife and blame everyone else for Russia’s woes – in particular, he has attempted to once again paint the United States as Russia’s main foe.  From the missile defence shield, to Egypt, Libya and now Syria, Putin has tried to blame the U.S and the western alliance as a great meddlesome force hindering world peace.

When Russian protests intensified in December, Vladimir Putin, despite no evidence, initiated his presidential “campaign” by accusing the United States of fomenting street protests against his rule, and by calling his political opponents “tools of U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.” 

His increasing aggression towards the west has caused diplomats and politicians in the west to ask why he is so determined to blame the west for what ails him.  If the Russian people are unhappy that they are about to have Putin re-installed as president, blame rests at home and not abroad.

• The Russian people laboured under the misapprehension that they were a more open, freer nation and thus, had a true voice and vote in who leads their country.
• Putin’s return to power was not greeted with cheers…but jeers.  Putin did not expect this, so his efforts to invent a common enemy are a typical political ploy.
• Vladimir Putin and his “United Russia” party hope to stay in power for many years – even if the people don’t want them.  Putin believe he can create a scapegoat through red herring issues and manufactured threats to Russia.
• Unlike the days of the cold war, which Putin longs for, the Russian people are connected to the rest of the world – they can access world media outlets and as such, they are able to get real, uncensored news.  Putin must have forgotten this fact.

But what may be more frightening to Putin than public mistrust of his role as president, are events taking place thousands of miles away.

Since December 2010, when the “Arab Spring” first began in Tunisia, Putin has been especially nervous.  Like the leaders in China and Iran, Putin has watched helplessly as the Arab Spring moved across Algeria, Yemen, Egypt, Libya and now Syria, with the people of those nations take to the streets in mass protest…and worse.  In Egypt, they drove Hosni Mubarak from power and put him on trial and in Libya, they drove out Moammar Gadhafi and hunted him down – now he is dead.  Putin and the leaders in China and Iran are clearly wondering what would happen if the “Arab Spring” made its way to their own countries.  With Syria’s Bashar Assad using the military against his own people so he can cling to power, the leaders of Russia and China must harbour some hope that he actually survives the revolution – which probably explains why they vetoed any action on Syria by the UN.

Putin clearly believed he could return to power and be happily embraced by the average Russian voter – when that failed to happen, he tried to stir nationalistic pride by falsely portraying the United States and the “west” as meddlesome powers that were intentionally causing problems inside Russia.  As the Arab Spring took exploded, his anxiety level must have caused him to act irrationally, because he again tried to blame the U.S. for those home-grown revolutions.  He made a few mistakes however.  Just a few days ago, Russia vetoed UN action against Bashar Assad in Syria, saying that no one should interfere in their internal affairs.  This week he is quoted as saying:

“Moscow must not let events like those in Libya and Syria be repeated in Russia.”  He followed up this random dire warning by once again telling the west not to interference in a country (Russia), that he intends to “lead for years to come.”  He went on to say:  “We of course condemn all violence regardless of its source, but one cannot act like an elephant in a china shop.  Help them, advise them – limit, for instance, their ability to use weapons – but do not interfere under any circumstances.” 

So Putin is telling the U.S. not to interfere in Syria’s internal affairs – but hadn’t he already blamed us for starting the trouble in Syria… and Egypt…and Libya and, apparently…Russia?  He needs to keep his stories straight and he needs to keep his blame game more organized…there must be an app for that, right?