Word: putin
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...December, Vladimir Putin settled Russia's succession question by declaring his support for Dmitri Medvedev, a deputy prime minister and former Putin chief of staff. Soon after, while I and other TIME editors were in Moscow preparing to interview Putin as TIME's Person of the Year, Medvedev returned the favor and announced that he would in turn endorse Putin as Russia's next Prime Minister. A top Kremlin aide told us the news with great excitement. When we dryly suggested that Putin may possibly have had a hand in Medvedev's decision, even this Kremlin loyalist had to laugh...
Medvedev's rise means the presidency is now in the hands of a Putin loyalist. Yet that doesn't mean Medvedev will have broad authority. True, since the fall of the Soviet Union, power has been centered in the office of the President. Boris Yeltsin was flawed and ineffective, yet held significant powers. Putin inherited them, enhanced them, and transformed the presidency into a source of pride and respect for many Russians. It didn't hurt, of course, that world prices for oil and other Russian natural resources hit sky-high levels, enabling Putin to dole out favors and goodies...
...that Putin is moving office, it seems safe to assume that real power will reside with the Prime Minister. In case there are any doubts, Putin himself recently said as much: "The Cabinet, headed by the Prime Minister, is the highest executive authority in the country." That means more of the same for Russia. That's good news, or bad, depending...
When Yeltsin ruled Russia, urban intellectuals were optimistic about the future and the possibilities of democratic change. Most other Russians, however, sank into despair as the economy withered and the state's assets were handed out to corrupt insiders. Under Putin, attitudes have flipped. Now it's the intellectuals who are disgusted with his administration's habitual disregard for democracy, its tendency to harass opposition figures and intimidate media outlets that dare to criticize the state. Average Russians, on the other hand, seem mostly to accept Putin's grand bargain: I'll improve your standard of living if you keep...
...Putin's popularity ratings are routinely around...