A few days after I tried to roundup some reaction to Time's selection of Vladimir Putin as its Person of the Year, French philosopher/author André Glucksmann's thoughts were translated for City Journal, and it has taken me this long to land on it.
...one must lack both heart and mind to coronate as the guarantor of world security an autocrat whose profession of faith is “once a Chekist, always a Chekist,†and whose historical intelligence assaults us with the notion that “the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the 20th century isâ€â€”guess what: the two world wars? Auschwitz? the gulag? wrong!—“the dissolution of the Soviet Union.†True, one must credit Putin with sincerity for daring to make such a public declaration in April 2005; but Time, detecting in it a promise of stability, deserves credit only for absurdity.Posted by dan at January 15, 2008 2:27 AMIn justifying its choice for Putin’s pseudo-stability, Time falls for the Kremlin’s propaganda: all is in order in the Potemkin village. Upon learning of the assassination of Paul Klebnikov, editor-in-chief of Forbes Russia, Anna Politkovskaï¡ wrote: “It is undeniable that stability has returned to Russia—a monstrous stability, such that no one demands justice . . . such that only a fool would still dare to claim the protection of the forces of a regime riddled with corruption. ‘An eye for an eye’ has replaced the rule of law in people’s minds, as in their acts. The president himself provides the example.†Anna is unable to appreciate Time’s choice; she was assassinated on November 7, 2006.