Politics and Government

In June 2023, with Russia’s brutal war against UkraineUkraine bogged down across fiercely fought but relatively stable frontlines, the Russian mercenary group, Wagner, until then loyal to the Kremlin, briefly rebelled and threatened to march on MoscowMoscow. The seriousness of this situation was emphasised by the fact that President Putin made two unscheduled televised addresses to the Russian people within three days. He called the rebellion an act of treason and ‘a deadly threat to our statehood and our nation’. In this case, the potential revolt faded as quickly as it arose and within months its leader was dead; but the presidential reaction that the brief insurgence brought forth presented a revealing insight into the nature of Russia’s political system. Suddenly and momentarily an anti-regime uprising seemed to be underway in Russia. Even given the background of war, armed rebellions are not normal politics in a normal polity. They tend instead to occur in authoritarian states where there is little prospect of regime change by means of established and peaceful political processes.