The debate over Russia’s likely course of development under Putin has paid surprisingly little attention to his openly stated goal of reintegrating Russia with other former Soviet republics.
About the Author
John B. Dunlop, senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, is the author of Russia Confronts Chechnya: Roots of a Separatist Conflict (1998), The Rise of Russia and the Fall of the Soviet Empire (1993), and The New Russian Nationalism (1985).
Vladimir Putin’s reputation as a skillful leader was buoyed by years of economic good fortune. But when his regime faltered, his rule quickly descended into the fearful, repressive, and paranoid…