Word: putin
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Ostensibly, Putin has made a bold decision. Medvedev is known as an economic liberal. Since being appointed as First Deputy Prime Minister in November 2005, he has held the portfolio of "national programs." His job was to bring dynamism to the government's welfare initiatives in housing, pension payments, health care and agriculture. In the 1990s there was a shocking deterioration in the living conditions of most Russians, dragging nearly a third of them below the poverty level. The rise in prices on the world's petrochemical market gave ministers an opportunity to improve the situation, and Medvedev has impressed...
This toughness is one of the reasons why Putin is anointing him. Another is their mutual trust. Like Putin, the next Russian President comes from St. Petersburg and has a law degree. At 42, he is even younger than Putin. For almost his entire career he has been working, whether directly or not, for Putin, and he ran Putin's presidential campaign in 2000. He has served, off and on, as the chairman of the board of Russia's gigantic energy corporation, Gazprom. He has also worked as Chief of Staff in the presidential administration. He has constantly been...
Shadings of difference have come to light between Medvedev and Putin. In 2003, Medvedev was less than gushing in his approval of the arrest of oil billionaire Mikhail Khodorkovsky. This was when Putin's hunting down of the post-communist business "oligarchs" was in full spate. Medvedev has also frequently railed against corruption in Russian public life. He has made a point of saying repeatedly that the country badly needs to protect newly emerging small businesses. His career is apparently devoid of any postings in the Federal Security Service (FSB, the successor to the KGB), whereas several Kremlin leaders, including...
...Medvedev's divergences from Putin should not be overstated. Even his distancing himself from the Khodorkovsky affair cannot have been done without consulting Putin. Medvedev is not a politician who will move off the "patriotic" course plotted by his mentor. Putin is a wolf and has always enjoyed looking like one. Medvedev, despite covering himself in lamb's wool, will probably be just as menacing to the other inhabitants of the wood...
...Bush. It would be ill-advised for Washington, however, to believe Russia's perceptions of its foreign-policy interests will change regarding Kosovo, Iran or the U.S.-proposed "nuclear shield" installations in Poland and the Czech Republic. Even in internal policy there is no serious disagreement between Medvedev and Putin...