Putin’s Return to Power and Medvedev’s Legacy, Summer 2012

Wednesday, September 5, 2012 | Download PDF in English

Putin’s return to the presidency has been orchestrated as the resounding confirmation of the system of creeping authoritarianism and crippling political patronage he created during his first two terms in office. It dispelled any hopes of change that many, both at home and abroad, saw in the one term presidency of Dmitri Medvedev. The article looks at the broad sweep of recent developments in Russian politics in order to extrapolate main trends, which are likely to shape Russia’s domestic situation as well as its foreign policy in the next decade. It concludes that although the much-desired semblance of stability has returned for the time being, by ignoring some deep structural flaws of the present system, the ruling regime might precipitate its own demise in the long run.

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Jakub Kulhanek

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