The Stalinization of Putinism: A Doomed Effort

Abstract

Russia in 2013 is on the threshold of serious changes, which could happen at any moment, with or without sanction from the top. In fact, these changes have already begun with the political crisis of the fall and winter of 2011/12. The interests of the principal actors — the regional elites, the business sector, civil society — are more and more frequently coming into sharp conflict with the interests of the federal government. And in Russia today there are no institutions or even accepted frameworks for reconciling these different interests.