Stories of Russia’s powerful state capacity have long been central to Putin’s image as a strong leader. Putin also promised to return Russia to the international stage as a “great power.” The image of Putin as a strong leader and Russia as a strong state — both at home and abroad — has played a key role in Putin’s mystique. Putin is a “statist.” There is even a precise word in the Russian language for this ideological orientation: gosudarstvennik. South Korea, Taiwan, New Zealand and Germany have done much better than Italy, France, Britain, Brazil or the United States. Covid-19 has exposed the myth of Russia as a strong state and Putin as a strong leader.

Source: Washington Post May 20, 2020 18:56 UTC