Just a quick note: I have a largely-but-not-wholly serious piece on VVP and his travails in the NYU Jordan Center All The Russias blog, Putin: the man who arranges the blocks. Is this man a tactician rather than a strategist, and does he have some sense that his once-impregnable fortress might be beginning to crumble…?
Putin: tactician, strategist or player of political Tetris?
Posted by Mark Galeotti on November 7, 2012
https://inmoscowsshadows.wordpress.com/2012/11/07/putin-tactician-strategist-or-player-of-political-tetris/
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Andras Toth-Czifra (@NoYardstick)
/ November 7, 2012Excellent piece, Mark. Approximately a week ago, I also argued on my blog that we’re witnessing a change in the inner structures of the system here ( http://www.noyardstick.com/?p=128 ). I don’t think Putin would like to be involved in the hustle and bustle of dealing with the opposition and of the economic reforms. He is still fairly popular and the only way to keep his ship afloat within a system that has been becoming more and more competitive both inside and outside the elite is to let elite groups on a longer leash, to “outsource” decisions. I might even say that he has no choice but to do so. I guess this is why there’s so much talking about ideology these days.