My fear is that we in the West are prepared to cut Putin and company too much slack because of our distaste for the robber-barons of the 1990s (mostly Jews, it must be said).

My opinion differs from yours in several respects, but on this following statement, I think you’re dead on. As long as you’re talking about the post-Soviet era.

There is a long road from normal majority rule to oppression of minorities, but this distinction is lost on the fair-weather democratizers. For the average Westerner, Russia has long been viewed, wrongly in my view, as an atavistic and uncivilized nation to be opposed at all costs. This is not fair, and, more important, is an unwise manner of characterizing a strong nation that will demand to be respected one way or another.

Sure, Putin might be overly nationalistic, too hard on the press within Russia as well as any number of other things many might not like. What gets missed is that he’s been good for bringing the Russian people together. In the long term, if Russia moves gradually toward greater freedoms and better economics, he could very well be seen as the most important person in that transition. Making a move toward democracy doesn’t have to be overnight and indeed shouldn’t if the nation isn’t ready to make a lightspeed transition. Russia proved they weren’t ready. Perhaps Putin creating stability is the right move at the right time.