by Jed Estrada

TIME Magazine’s 2007 Person of the Year title was chosen from a unique and intriguing group of individuals. The runner-ups for the title were notables such as Al Gore, for his dedication to the environment, Hu Jintao, the communist president of the People's Republic of China, the internationally acclaimed author of the Harry Potter series, J.K. Rowling, and U.S. General David Petraeus, who TIME says “fought America's most difficult foreign war — and one at home” However, the man who rose above all these others in the bold, earth-changing leadership that defines the title was Vladimir Putin, the President of Russia. In a feature article entitled “Choosing order before Freedom,” TIME Magazine recognized Putin for his “extraordinary feat of leadership in imposing stability on a nation that has rarely known it.”

 The problem is, the Kremlin’s leadership of Russia has run contrary to the free and democratic principles of America and it’s allies. Even worse, Putin has been contrary to the U.S. in its efforts to fight terrorism and promote security. During a time when the United States is attempting to build nations, and promote democracy abroad, Russia has seen an increased infringement of freedom and democracy since Putin came to power. According to the Heritage Foundation, the Kremlin and its supporters have systematically been gaining control of all the key areas of influence over Russia. Since 2003, all television networks are run directly by the government, or by groups that support it. Practically all Western broadcasting corporations are also banned from Russian networks. It is also disturbing to note that in the past decade several Russian journalists and critics have mysteriously been murdered. The most recent death of Alexander Litvinenko, in 2006 by radioactive poisoning, was directly linked to the Kremlin.

The media hasn’t been the only field where the Putin has sought control. Private, and non-governmental organizations have recently been subjected to excessive restrictions, and regulations. Foreign involvement, or “interference” as it was put, was prohibited in January 2005, and the following year Putin enacted a law that gave the Kremlin the authority over all private and non-governmental organizations which threatened the “national interests of the Russian Republic,” as defined by the Kremlin. The law also allowed government officials to attend and observe any and all meetings that a private organization might hold.

Over the course of Putin’s presidency, the Political system in Russia has become almost completely one-party. Through a program of propaganda and intimidation, opponents of Putin have slowly and quietly been replaced by supporters, and allies. Local government has been either circumvented or heavily controlled, and the power of direct representation has been extremely diluted, and limited. In 2001, Putin signed a law that required any political party to have a minimum of 10,000 members before it could have representation, with an additional requirement of at least 100 members in each of Russia’s 89 districts. Given the restrictions on free media, this made the rise of a new party practically non-existent. Furthermore, 3 months before the 2004 elections, Putin signed a law censoring criticism of political candidates by the media. In Russia’s 2003 Parliamentary elections, Putin’s supporters had won 300 of the 450 seat parliament, and in 2004 Putin won a second Presidential term in a widely acclaimed landslide victory, which many westerners viewed with suspicion.

So is this an example of the leadership that TIME Magazine admires in its Person of the Year? TIME magazine insists that the Person of the Year award is not an honor, nor an endorsement. It is rather intended to be a candid recognition of the individual who has had the most significant impact on the world “for better or for worse.” After all, Adolph Hitler was named Person of the Year in 1939, and a year later Joseph Stalin given the title for 1940. Believe it or not, Osama bin Ladin was a runner-up for the 2001 title, which was given to New York City’s mayor, Rudy Giuliani instead, due to a large public protest. However, the so called “order” that Putin has established is nowhere along the lines of Mayor Giuliani’s heroic leadership, and in international policy Vladimir Putin has been more of a foe to the United States.

Even though Iran has defied the U.S. as well as the United Nations, Russia has persistently engaged in selling weapons to Iran. The Center for Strategic and International Studies published a report in December 2006 detailing Russia’s weapons trade with Iran, and noting the increased military contracts since Putin became President in 2000. According to data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, a well-respected observer of global military transfers, Russia provides 70 percent of Iran’s military imports. Furthermore, and despite a United Nations sanction on nuclear technology, Russia helped to fund and build Iran’s nuclear power plant, which it claims is only for peaceful purposes. In addition to Russia’s obvious support of Iran, it has also been the only nation to hold diplomatic relations with Palestine’s extremist Hamas government. Vladimir Putin also opposes the war in Iraq, and has been deliberately divisive with the United State’s plans for an allied missile defense system.

With all these facts and discord so obviously contrasted, why has TIME Magazine insisted on exalting this man for leadership qualities? The political irony of such a choice is far too apparent to be coincidental, especially at a time when President Bush’s leadership is criticized, the war in Iraq is opposed, and missile defense initiatives are viewed with skepticism, often by TIME Magazine itself. It raises the question of the objectivity with which the Person of the Year title is bestowed.

In the end, we do not yet know the full extent of Vladimir Putin’s legacy as President of Russia, but with the Presidential elections this past March, Putin has stepped down to the role of Prime Minister, and Dmitrii Anatolevich Medevedev is now the third President of Russia. Only time will show the impact of the Kremlin’s infringement of freedom in Russia, and how Russia’s new President will display his leadership and power.