Putin’s address leaves philosophy aside  [30 April 2007]  By
Dmitry Shusharin  RIA Novosti (MCT)  Vladimir Putin  Vladimir
Putin  MOSCOW—There are different ways of commenting on
President Vladimir Putin’s state-of-the-nation address to
Russia’s Federal Assembly. The easiest method is to follow the
text and discuss the ideas one by one. But one can also evaluate
the address as a whole, in the context of the current
developments in Russia.  We were told beforehand that it would
be the president’s last state-of-the-nation address, but it
would not be a farewell. This turned out to be correct. The
address was oriented to the future. It shows what political
system has been built under Putin and how it will function after
him. I don’t use the word “develop” because development,
evolution and transformation are glaringly at odds with the gist
and goal of this system.  The goal is simple enough: a closed
community of people wants to keep power in their hands. In
effect, they are the power. Their formal status may be