Something we Didn’t Need a Leak to Tell Us…

Via FP’s The Cable:  WikiLeaked cable from Bob Gates: “Russian democracy has disappeared”.

"SecDef (Gates) observed that Russian democracy has disappeared and the government was an oligarchy run by the security services," read a cable about the meeting classified by Assistant Secretary of Defense Alexander Vershbow and leaked to the self described whistleblower website WikiLeaks.

Quite honestly, the notion that Russian democracy, such as it was, has largely gone away is not surprise.

Of course, having the SecDef of the US say so is no small thing.  Not, btw, that Putin & Co. are going to care all that much.

FILED UNDER: Democracy, National Security, US Politics, World Politics, , ,
Steven L. Taylor
About Steven L. Taylor
Steven L. Taylor is a Professor of Political Science and a College of Arts and Sciences Dean. His main areas of expertise include parties, elections, and the institutional design of democracies. His most recent book is the co-authored A Different Democracy: American Government in a 31-Country Perspective. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Texas and his BA from the University of California, Irvine. He has been blogging since 2003 (originally at the now defunct Poliblog). Follow Steven on Twitter