Putin's been tightening his grip on the country, and trying to reign in Russia's neighbors, for several years. I agree that it's not a good sign, not at all.

However, there are several things arguing against returning to the bad old days. Information from the outside is easier to get. Economic power is more dispersed (even with Putin's tightening). Russia's military power is much less. And there's the history of throwing off tyrants in the last 20 years that would argue against greatly increasing central control.

I agree with you that the symbolism is disturbing. I think a lot of it is being ratcheted up due to the upcoming elections. But all isn't lost, just yet. A lot will depend on how much control Putin and his cronies have when he leaves the presidency, and what happens in the election when [link|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viktor_Zubkov|Viktor Zubkov] is up for re-election. If there's no effective opposition on the ballot, then a one-party dictatorship on the lines of Mexico's old [link|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Institutional_Revolutionary_Party|PRI]. I think few would argue that Mexico benefited from such rigid party control for so long.

But we'll see...

Hang in there.

Cheers,
Scott.