At the start of his fourth term, Putin's space for any domestic and foreign policy manoeuvring appears to be quite limited. And as he surpasses Leonid Brezhnev as the longest-serving leader in Russia's modern history (if Putin's term as prime minister is counted), critical voices in Russia and abroad have started comparing him to his Soviet predecessor, whose 18-year reign ended in 1982. [...]
While the parallel with the 1970s' Soviet Union is not complete (for one, Putin appears to be in excellent health, compared with Brezhnev, who succumbed to alcoholism and illness), Russia does appear to be entering a similar period of stagnation in foreign and domestic affairs. [...]
Medvedev's pursuit of rapprochement with the West precipitated Russia's abstention during the 2011 UN Security Council vote to approve a US-led intervention in Libya - a move that Putin sharply criticised. [...]
Putin himself is also not ready to make compromises on Russia's positions and, in a sense, admit that he made a mistake in Ukraine. For that reason, Galeotti says, it is unlikely that there will be a resolution of the Ukrainian crisis in the following six years. [...]
The biggest barrier to economic development, in his opinion, is the lack of investment in the Russian economy. There are two reasons for that: one, the economic sanctions which have caused a lot of Western capital to depart from Russia; and two, the lack of the rule of law.
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