Slate: The Myth of Russian Reform by Anne Applebaum

This is why Western newspaper analysis of Russia is so often

wrong or at least misplaced: To date, the writing about Putin’s

Cabinet and entourage has generally focused on how

well-known a given Putin appointee or adviser is in the

West—and therefore how “reformist” he is likely to be.

Russian analysts, on the other hand, focus on which particular

business clan supports the man in question (they are all men)

and whose interests he is therefore likely to favor. Likewise,

the most important political battle in Russia over the past year,

that between the interests grouped around Putin and the

interests grouped around Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov and

former Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov, had nothing to do

with “Left vs. Right” or “Reform vs. Nasty,” but is better

characterized by the Leninist phrase “Who Whom?” In that

context, calling one group more or less “democratic” or

“internationalist” or “pro-Western” makes no sense.