Though Putin has cultivated nationalism in Russia – according to Harvard University’s Timothy Colton, at a recent meeting of the Valdai Discussion Club, Putin called himself the country’s “biggest nationalist” – he found fertile ground to plow. Given that other high-level figures – for example, Dmitry Rogozin, who last October endorsed a book calling for the return of Alaska – are also highly nationalistic, a successor to Putin would probably not be liberal.
但俄国的问题不仅仅是普京。尽管普京一直在俄培植民族主义——按照哈佛大学科尔顿在瓦尔代辩论俱乐部最近一次会议上的说法，普京自称为俄国“最坚定的民族主义者”——俄罗斯的民族主义土壤肥沃。鉴于其他高层人物——比方说去年10月推荐一部呼吁阿拉斯加回归著作的德米特里·罗戈津——同样是民族主义者，普京的继任者不太可能崇尚自由。最近前副总理兼反对党领袖鲍里斯·涅姆佐夫遇刺进一步证实了这种假设。