Almost three decades have passed since the Soviet Union collapsed. Back then, many in the west and in Russia dared to hope a European-style liberal democracy could take hold. Those hopes are in tatters. A clan of former Soviet security men and loyal oligarchs run an ever more Potemkin democracy, with Vladimir Putin as frontman and guarantor. A constitutional referendum last week paved the way for Mr Putin to remain president potentially until 2036 — by which time he will be 83 and the longest-serving paramount Russian leader since Peter the Great. Russia, it seems, has defaulted to its centuries-old model of one-man rule.
蘇聯解體已近30年。當時，西方和俄羅斯的許多人都大膽地希望歐式自由民主制能夠在此地生根?，F在，這些希望都已破滅。一個由前蘇聯安全部門人員和忠誠的寡頭組成的小團體執掌著一種越來越假模假式的波將金(Potemkin)式的民主，由弗拉基米爾?普京(Vladimir Putin)擔當首腦和保證人。上周舉行的憲法公投為普京可能將總統任期延續至2036年鋪平了道路。屆時，他83歲，將成為彼得大帝(Peter the Great)以來在位時間最長的俄羅斯最高領導人。俄羅斯似乎已經默認延續了幾個世紀的“一人統治”模式。