[link|http://www.economist.com/world/europe/displaystory.cfm?story_id=10102921|Economist]
The manual's choice of period is suggestive: from Stalin's victory in the \ufffdgreat patriotic war\ufffd to the victory of Mr Putin's regime. It celebrates all contributors to Russia's greatness, and denounces those responsible for the loss of empire, regardless of their politics. The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 is not seen as a watershed from which a new history begins, but as an unfortunate and tragic mistake that hindered Russia's progress. \ufffdThe Soviet Union was not a democracy, but it was an example for millions of people around the world of the best and fairest society.\ufffd

The manual does not deny Stalin's repressions; nor is it silent about the suppression of protest movements in Hungary and Czechoslovakia. It does something more dangerous, justifying Stalin's dictatorship as a necessary evil in response to a cold war started by America against the Soviet Union. \ufffdThe domestic politics of the Soviet Union after the war fulfilled the tasks of mobilisation which the government set. In the circumstances of the cold war...democratisation was not an option for Stalin's government.\ufffd The concentration of power in Stalin's hands suited the country; indeed, the conditions of the time \ufffddemanded\ufffd it.

New history book pushed by Putin. It isn't mandated on schools yet, but I expect Putin will be leaning pretty hard.

The book celebrates Russia's authoritarian leaders and dictators and marks the democratic ones as weak. It claims that because of Russian's mental make up they are better suited to being lead by a single powerful leader. And it tries to rehabilitate Stalin by saying what he did was necessary in the face of outside aggression.

The book appears to be quite rabid in it's anti-western slant and it's pro-authoritarian slant. Not a good sign for future relations.

[link|http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/11/13/asia/russia.php|International Herald Tribune]
President Vladimir Putin's government has failed to reverse a steady post-Soviet decline of the armed forces despite repeated pledges to strengthen military might, a group of independent experts said in a report released Tuesday.

The military continues to suffer from rampant corruption, inefficiency and poor morale, the report said. The Kremlin has also failed to deliver on its promises to modernize arsenals, it said.

Not exactly good news, but Putin has not been able to fix the military problems he is facing. Years of corruption and neglect have seriously damaged the Russian military. And it is very hard for one corrupt bureaucracy to purge another corrupt bureaucracy of corruption. It would be a mistake though to think of the Russian military as weak.

Jay