The Troubled Road in Russia: Putin’s Impasse

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia, which is sustaining a new recovery process with Putin, is at the crossroads of a new turning point. Putin, the face of the country’s deep state, may hold the presidency for another two terms, in line with new constitutional changes. The new constitution predicts handing over some of the presidential authority to the Russian Parliament, the Duma. These changes in the constitution involve new alignments in the Russian decision-making system rather than promoting internal democracy. On the other hand, the conventional energy resources of Russia, representing the predominant part of the national income, are in a decreasing trend. The explored energy reserves are either too expensive for extraction or too far from the center of the country. Russia inevitably has to develop additional sources for export other than energy to balance her budget. With COVID-19, the vulnerability of the Russian state system and revenues came into the open. In the coming decades, Russia needs to make critical decisions to sustain her ambition to be a major power. Putin, being aware of this, is planning a transition period, behind which he will personally stand during the changeover.