Anders Aslund’s policy brief, “Putin’s Decline and America’s Response,” has provoked a fiery debate over the nature and future of the Putin regime. Some commentators insist that Russia’s real authoritarian turn took place under Yeltsin, while others agree, with Aslund, that Putin has tightened the screws. Some believe Putin’s government has been ineffective in dealing with crises like Beslan, while others call such criticism misguided and unfair.
Few take direct issue with Aslund’s most surprising claim: that Putin may not survive in power until the 2008 elections. But the experts vary widely in their assessment of which social forces could spark an anti-Putin movement.
This document includes postings that originally appeared on Johnson’s Russia List, including Aslund’s response to criticism of his work.
Click on the link to the right for the full text.
