Los in transition

President Vladimir Putin, constitutionally barred from running for a third presidential term, says that he has not ruled out running for prime minister, triggering widespread speculation about his intentions. In the run up to Russia's presidential and parliamentary elections, a new book from the Carnegie Moscow Center's Lilia Shevtsova examines the legacies of Presidents Putin and Boris Yeltsin and how they will shape the upcoming electoral cycle and Russia's immediate political future.Sixteen years after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Russia has startled the international community with its assertive rhetoric and economic might. In Russia—Lost In Transition: The Yeltsin and Putin Legacies, Shevtsova contends that Russia's resurgence in the global arena disguises political stagnation and failure to modernize. She argues that the political regime and the type of capitalism that have been adopted over the last fifteen years are not sustainable in the long term and are unlikely to promote further economic growth and social improvements.

Key Conclusions:

• To avoid becoming a lame duck president, Putin will seek to perpetuate the uncertainty and suspense around the election and his own political future. Putin's recent reshuffling of his cabinet and the appointment of a relatively unknown prime minister demonstrated his need to prove he is still in charge. A new struggle for control and influence over the incoming political regime is likely to emerge.

• Russia's next leader must address the pressing social problems plaguing the nation, notably population decline and economic disparity. While anti-Western rhetoric has distracted the public, Russia's shattered social infrastructure threatens economic and social stability.

• Russia's recent assertiveness in foreign policy has greatly mobilized the public, and the ruling elite would like Russia to simultaneously be both friend and foe to the West.  Potential domestic crises in Russia could result in a more nationalist and authoritarian regime that eschews cooperation with the West and purges moderates from the Kremlin.

• To create a fertile environment for Russia's further economic and political transformation, Russia and the West must recognize that they have common interests rooted in shared values. Western policy towards Russia should avoid isolation at all costs and should be based on understanding, strategy, and engagement.
  • In particular, Western nations must understand Russia's unique dilemmas and choices;
  • develop a coherent strategy addressing the Kremlin leadership, the political class, and society;
  • and engage with Russia on areas where their interests overlap—counter-proliferation, combating international terrorism, energy security, and climate change—but not at the expense of acquiescing to the crackdown on democracy.

"Perhaps the greatest challenge for transforming Russia will be the need for its leadership to start the new reforms, of which the most radical will be dividing state power among independent institutions.  Will a new leader be prepared to embark on political self-castration and hand over some of his power to other institutions? This is Russia's metaproblem for which no solution was found under Yeltsin and Putin," concludes Shevtsova.

"Nasing spesal..."

Wreckage of Latvia's retailing industry: has declined 17% year on year according to the latest figures. But one item is selling well: T-shirts with seemingly mysterious slogans such as "Nasing spesal". Latvians are glad to have something to laugh about, even if it is only their finance minister, Atis Slakteris. In an ill-judged foreign television interview, using heavily accented and idiosyncratic English worthy of the film character Borat, he described his country's economic problems as "nothing special". Put mildly, that was an original interpretation, writes The Economist . Fuelled by reckless bank lending, particularly in construction and consumer loans, Latvia had enjoyed a colossal boom, with double-digit economic growth and a current-account deficit that peaked at over 20% of GDP. Conventional wisdom would have suggested applying the brakes hard, by tightening the budget and curbing borrowing. But the country's rulers, a lightweight lot with close ties to business, rejected that. Fast economic growth made voters feel that European Union membership was at last producing practical benefits, after a disappointing start when tens of thousands of Latvians went abroad in search of work, leaving rural villages and small towns depopulated.

Stalin no better than Hitler?

Orlando Figes wrote the book The Whisperers, It's subtitle is "private life in Stalin's Russia'' and it tells – in numbing detail – what happened to the Russian people under the Great Terror, a tale of barely imaginable horror. Russian publication of 'The Whisperers' has just been cancelled. By Putin?