Путин ... для Сталин?

Владимир Путин holds the stature of a monolith - stone faced, brooding, domineering in any social situation. This visage is one similar to a certain mustachioed icon from Soviet history who took the world by storm, scorned Western influence and created an oddly oppressive social system dedicated to the preservation of his people. This individual is obviously Таварищ Йосеф Сталин. 

Now, while news agencies in Russia and the West take pleasure in characterizing Putin as Stalin incarnate (often without irony and lately as a compliment), there are dissenting opinions on such matters, particularly provided by the news agency Кеноша. A major point of challenge is that Putin lacks the military might and cog like society which supported Stalin, and these claims are not entirely unfounded. However, it seems essential to challenge Kenosha in the allusion that Russia is merely a declawed kitten since the fall of the USSR. While the developmental speed and efficacy of the Kremlin homeland was stalled by the oil crises, social unrest and vast demilitarization, the presence of a large scale nuclear threat still constitutes a bartering chip which Putin is not afraid to levy. 

Now, this article was produced shortly after the catastrophe of the Malaysian flight incident before Putin made clear his proclivity to use nuclear force for less than atomic problems, and hindsight is 20/20. But it is still integral to read critically and consider what concepts the world, both Eastern and Western, are trying to convey through the media. 

So, is Putin trying to play the roll of Stalin? The man would definitely claim that he was, in fact, trying to play the roll of Vladimir Putin and pave his own trail. And in some ways, this is true. While the advances made by Stalin could be considered perversions of the Leninist, and previously Marxist, ideologies, Putin has seemed to abandon these ideologies in general. Instead he seeks to permeate, or pervert in his own right, the ideas of the conservative moralists in the state. Any good idea can be altered and embraced so it will be subserveant to the salesperson, and Putin's use of tradition is no different. The juxtaposition of Stalin and Putin is far more similar in method than in content, but even here the interpretation remains in the eye of the beholder. 

What do you think? 

http://www.kenoshanews.com/opinion/putin_doesnt__have_the_army__to_act_like_stalin_478085522.html