Mr Medvedev's article and Mr Putin's comments on 2012 may reflect a tension between the two men and their teams that has brought Russia into a state of inactivity caused by competing forces.
In the past few months some of Mr Medvedev's supporters have defected to Mr Putin's camp, arguing that modernisation is possible under the prime minister's leadership.
Orlando Figes, professor of history at London's Birkbeck College, says Mr Putin's home city of St Petersburg may be a window on Europe, but it can also been seen as a fortress against foreign opponents.
Mr Medvedev's September manifesto marks no break with Mr Putin's legacy.
Russia's economic bounce-back since 1999 owes as much to high oil prices, a big devaluation and the country's hardy businessmen as it does to Mr Putin's new stance.
They included Igor Sechin, chairman of Rosneft, Russia's state oil company, and one of Mr Putin's most trusted deputy prime ministers, in charge of energy.
U.S. Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns responded by calling Putin's accusations "preposterous, " saying Washington would "not give a millimeter" to any proposal that would weaken the monitoring organization.
Some see Mr Medvedev's new activity as an attempt to pull away from Mr Putin's influence.
The Belarussian president's strident anti-western language does not chime with Mr Putin's tough but friendly approach.
Since the announcement of Putin's return for a third presidential term 12 months ago, Putin and the Kremlin have demonstrated a remarkably tin ear.
In November Russia rescued Belarus's crippled economy with a generous package, as part of Mr Putin's grand plan for a Eurasian Union that will also include Kazakhstan.
Russia's western neighbours hope that, when push comes to shove, Mr Putin's craving for respectability will prevent him from doing anything too unpleasant.
Ella Paneyakh, a sociologist and legal expert at Russia's European University in St Petersburg, said the case illustrated how in President Vladimir Putin's Russia "they are getting very creative, interpreting the law very literally, in a way which does not correspond to the spirit of the law".
Indeed, Mr Putin's military deployments signal that he will not let the Assad regime fall.
Since Mr Putin's re-election last March, legal action against opposition figures has increased markedly.
Since Mr Putin's re-election in March 2011, legal action against opposition figures has increased markedly.
Putin's message was clear: Show loyalty to the Kremlin or face an uncertain future.
One of Mr Putin's former KGB colleagues Nikolai Patrushev is now head of the FSB.
Yet the West is still right to fret over the direction Mr Putin's Russia is taking.
Europe and America can still turn Mr. Putin's tactical overreach into a strategic opportunity.
Even Vladimir Putin's Russia seeks to adopt the trappings if not the substance of criminal justice.
Palin said Putin's goal is "to control energy supplies" coming from or through Russia.
Though it had Mr Putin's blessing, this was widely seen as a geopolitical irritant for Russia.
One of Mr Putin's first acts was to move Mr Borodin to a different job.
Another serious weakness in Mr Putin's structure of power is that there are no counterweights.
This is what has happened to those who have started fluttering about Putin's threat.
Mr Putin's other immediate task will be to sharpen the attack on Mr Luzhkov's Moscow base.
Of course, Mr Putin's announcement also raises the question of who will head the next government.
Putin's role model isn't Stalin but Peter the Great (1672--1725), whose portrait hangs in his office.
Mr Putin's first response was to order exporters to turn all their hard-currency receipts into roubles.
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