Introduction

Abstract

Between 1999 and 2012 Putin was the undisputed ruler of Russia and, at this moment, his rule does not seem likely to come to an end any time soon. After his comeback as Russian President in 2012 he has theoretically the possibility of remaining in power for another 12 years, which would make his reign longer than that of Leonid Brezhnev (18 years) or Tsar Nicholas II (22 years). Putin not only dominates the political scene in Russia, but also plays an equally prominent role on the global stage. Queen Elizabeth II received him at Buckingham Palace while on a state visit to the United Kingdom and he was invited to the G7 when this forum was still a rather closed Western club. Western leaders were so impressed with him that US President Bush, after having looked him in the eye, got a “sense of his soul,” finding him “straightforward and trustworthy.”¹ Former German Chancellor Helmut Schröder and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi became his buddies and the American magazine Time chose him in 2007 as ‘Person of the Year’. Putin was praised in the West for his pragmatism and for having restored order after the chaotic Yeltsin years. Although his democratic credentials were less obvious, his friend Schröder did not hesitate to call him a ‘lupenreiner Demokrat’ (crystal clear democrat). And even as late as 2011 French Prime Minister François Fillon repeated that Russia was a democracy.