Russia: Shift to the Shadows
T he Financial Times comments that the Russian regime maintains an outward veneer of autocratic rigidity but is rife with bureaucratic turf battles.
Since the start of the decade the siloviki flooded into state structures on the coat tails of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. But with the end of the Putin presidency in 2008 the siloviki have retreated. According to Olga Kryshtanovskaya, a University of Moscow sociologist who monitors elite groups, this shift may foretell a gradual move towards civilian government and a more liberal zeitgeist among the elite.
Few know what to make of the long term: many think Putin is destined to return as president in the 2012 elections, when President Dmitry Medvedev would stand down. Others see something more permanent in the changes taking place.