Russia skids on an oil slick

Today’s Wall Street Journal is spot on about how the limitations of Putinism have been exposed by the collapse in the oil price:

The last few months have laid bare Putinism’s true character. His recovery was no miracle: With oil so high, and half the work force employed by the state, any country like Russia would boom. But now the cost of Mr. Putin’s abandonment of market reforms and his neutering of state institutions and the private sector can be better appreciated.” The Journal reports that 39 percent of Russians are now dissatisfied with the regime. One of the geopolitical things to watch in 2009 is how non-democratic societies like Russia and China handle the coming economic strife.