Vladimir Putin, image by VABo2040 via PixabayBESA Center Perspectives Paper No. 1,271, August 30, 2019
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: Vladimir Putin’s government might be proud of many internal as well as foreign achievements, but strategically, Russia has fallen well behind the West. Putin is partly to blame, though titanic shifts in world politics and Russian history have dwarfed his ability to influence events. Russia’s geography and poverty also limit his ability to pull off grand reforms inside the country.
This month marks Vladimir Putin’s 20th anniversary at the helm of the Russian state. (He was nominated as president on December 31, 1999, but had …read more
