On 29 February Vladimir Putin delivered his 21st Annual Address – a much more confident, upbeat, indeed boastful performance than his 20th a year ago. Russia’s “colossal, invincible force” held the initiative and was liberating more and more territories. Russia would become “one of the four largest economic powers in the world…without a sovereign, strong Russia, no lasting world order is possible”. As one analyst commented in February, he “feels the wind in his sails. He feels like the war is finally breaking in his favour.” [1]
On 17 March Putin will be re-elected President for another six-year term. His overriding priority for 24 years has been to retain power, and his sights are now set on 2030. Putin may exult that Russia is achieving marginal gains in its attritional war against Ukraine; but is he Making Russia Great Again? What sort of a country will his regime bequeath to its successors?
The Changing Shape of Putin’s Russia
Twenty four years ago, Putin set out to restore Russia’s power by modernising the economy and rebuilding State power. He explicitly rejected the Soviet model.
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