Putin’s Choice
How Vladimir Putin, an astute politician, responds to domestic pressure after resuming the presidency on May 7 will decide his political legacy. And the West’s response could have a marked effect on whether he presses for liberalizing reforms and survives, or follows his KGB-honed authoritarian instincts and stokes further protest.
BRUSSELS – Vladimir Putin’s return to the Kremlin as Russia’s president was always a foregone conclusion. But, when he is sworn in on May 7, he will retake formal charge of a country whose politics – even Putin’s own political future – has turned unpredictable.