Putin I and Putin II

While the questions ”Who is Putin?”and ”What does Putin want?” are still relevant as a result of too many zig-zags in Putin’s first term. Putin’s first term witnessed serious reform attempts to modernize (or ”westernize”) Russia, but also an evident concentration of power in the hands of the President. Putin is still the most popular political figure in Russian political history, and he has both the powers and the necessary popular support to continue reforming Russia or to turn developments around towards a more authoritarian rule. The second presidential term is the time to show the cards, but paradoxically enough, whichever development he chooses, he will not escape the verdict of the Russian people and voters: at the beginning of his second presidential term, there is only one to praise or blame – Putin himself. This anthology is an attempt to describe what Putin has done in his first term, and what he is likely to do in his second term.