Is “This Guy” a Dictator? On the Morality of Evaluating Russian Democracy under Vladimir Putin

Authors

Amir Azarvan, Georgia Gwinnett CollegeFollow

Publication Date

January 2018

Abstract

Is it morally defensible to single Russian president, Vladimir Putin, out as a dictator? The popular impression that he is a dictator has been used to legitimize a dangerously adversarial policy towards what a U.S. Army general described as “the only country on earth…that could “destroy the United States.” I argue that this perception is in some ways misleading, and has contributed to escalating tensions with Russia, which is both unnecessary and harmful both to Russia and the U.S.

Author Bio(s)

Amir Azarvan is an assistant professor of political science at Georgia Gwinnett College. His work regularly explores the intersections between politics and Eastern Orthodox theology. His commentaries and scholarly work have appeared in such venues as Inside Higher Ed, Truthout, Russia Insider, and the Catholic Social Science Review. He is the editor of Re-Introducing Christianity: An Eastern Apologia for a Western Audience.

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