Just a few months short of a quarter-century as Russia's leader, Vladimir Putin on Tuesday will put his hand on a copy of the constitution and begin another six-year term as president wielding extraordinary power.
Since becoming acting president on the last day of 1999, Putin has shaped Russia into a monolith 바카라 crushing political opposition, running independent-minded journalists out of the country and promoting an increasing devotion to prudish 바카라traditional values바카라 that pushes many in society into the margins.
Just a few months short of a quarter-century as Russia's leader, Vladimir Putin on Tuesday will put his hand on a copy of the constitution and begin another six-year term as president wielding extraordinary power.
Since becoming acting president on the last day of 1999, Putin has shaped Russia into a monolith 바카라 crushing political opposition, running independent-minded journalists out of the country and promoting an increasing devotion to prudish 바카라traditional values바카라 that pushes many in society into the margins.
His influence is so dominant that other officials could only stand submissively on the sidelines as he launched a war in Ukraine despite expectations the invasion would bring international opprobrium and harsh economic sanctions, as well as cost Russia dearly in the blood of its soldiers.
With that level of power, what Putin will do with his next term is a daunting question at home and abroad.
The war in Ukraine, where Russia is making incremental though consistent battlefield gains, is the top concern, and he is showing no indication of changing course.
바카라The war in Ukraine is central to his current political project, and I don't see anything to suggest that that will change. And that affects everything else,바카라 Brian Taylor, a Syracuse University professor and author of 바카라The Code of Putinism,바카라 said in an interview with The Associated Press.
바카라It affects who's in what positions, it affects what resources are available and it affects the economy, affects the level of repression internally,바카라 he said.
In his state of the nation address in February, Putin vowed to fulfill Moscow's goals in Ukraine, and do whatever it takes to 바카라defend our sovereignty and security of our citizens.바카라 He claimed the Russian military has 바카라gained a huge combat experience바카라 and is 바카라firmly holding the initiative and waging offensives in a number of sectors.바카라
That will come at huge expense, which could drain money available for the extensive domestic projects and reforms in education, welfare and poverty-fighting that Putin used much of the two-hour address to detail.
Taylor suggested such projects were included in the address as much for show as for indicating real intent to put them into action.
Putin 바카라thinks of himself in the grand historical terms of Russian lands, bringing Ukraine back to where it belongs, those sorts of ideas. And I think those trump any kind of more socioeconomic-type programs,바카라 Taylor said.
If the war were to end in less than total defeat for either side, with Russia retaining some of the territory it has already captured, European countries fear that Putin could be encouraged toward further military adventurism in the Baltics or in Poland.
바카라It's possible that Putin does have vast ambitions and will try to follow a costly success in Ukraine with a new attack somewhere else,바카라 Harvard international relations professor Stephen Walt wrote in the journal Foreign Policy. 바카라But it is also entirely possible that his ambitions do not extend beyond what Russia has won 바카라 at enormous cost and that he has no need or desire to gamble for more.바카라
But, Walt added, 바카라Russia will be in no shape to launch new wars of aggression when the war in Ukraine is finally over.바카라
Such a rational concern might not prevail, others say. Maksim Samorukov, of the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center, said that 바카라driven by Putin's whims and delusions, Moscow is likely to commit self-defeating blunders.바카라
In a commentary in Foreign Affairs, Samorukov suggested that Putin's age could affect his judgment.
바카라At 71 ... his awareness of his own mortality surely impinges on his decision-making. A growing sense of his limited time undoubtedly contributed to his fateful decision to invade Ukraine.바카라
Overall, Putin may be heading into his new term with a weaker grip on power than he appears to have.
Russia's 바카라vulnerabilities are hidden in plain sight. Now more than ever, the Kremlin makes decisions in a personalized and arbitrary way that lacks even basic controls,바카라 Samorukov wrote.
바카라The Russian political elite have grown more pliant in implementing Putin's orders and more obsequious to his paranoid worldview,바카라 he wrote. The regime 바카라is at permanent risk of crumbling overnight, as its Soviet predecessor did three decades ago."
Putin is sure to continue his continue animosity toward the West, which he said in his state of the nation address 바카라would like to do to Russia the same thing they did in many other regions of the world, including Ukraine: to bring discord into our home, to weaken it from within.바카라
Putin's resistance to the West manifests not only anger at its support for Ukraine, but in what he sees as the undermining of Russia's moral fiber.
Russia last year banned the notional LGBTQ+ 바카라movement바카라 by declaring it to be extremist in what officials said was a fight for traditional values like those espoused by the Russian Orthodox Church in the face of Western influence. Courts also banned gender transitioning.
바카라I would expect the role of the Russian Orthodox Church to continue to be quite visible," Taylor said. He also noted the burst of social media outrage that followed a party hosted by TV presenter Anastasia Ivleeva where guests were invited to show up 바카라almost naked.바카라
바카라Other actors in the system understand that that stuff resonates with Putin. ... There were people interested in exploiting things like that,바카라 he said.
Although the opposition and independent media have almost vanished under Putin's repressive measures, there's still potential for further moves to control Russia's information space, including moving forward with its efforts to establish a 바카라sovereign internet.바카라
The inauguration comes two days before Victory Day, Russia's most important secular holiday, commemorating the Soviet Red Army's capture of Berlin in World War II and the immense hardships of the war, in which the USSR lost some 20 million people.
The defeat of Nazi Germany is integral to modern Russia's identity and to Putin's justification of the war in Ukraine as a comparable struggle.