The Putin system, like all government systems, depends on extending largess to favored interest groups, and the costs of doing so have gotten progressively larger.
FORBES: Russia and Oil: A Recipe for Preservation of the Status Quo
The thought of Mr Putin and his system carrying on for another 12 years depresses the many Russians who want change.
ECONOMIST: A once and future president seems confident��too confident
The man widely credited as the architect of Putin's tightly controlled political system, Vladislav Surkov, abruptly quit his post as Russia's deputy prime minister.
Talk by Russian President Vladimir Putin, for example, of an alternative European system is simply that - talk.
According to Putin, a U.S. style tax system would burden the middle classes.
Indeed it is obvious that the only thing the various strands of the anti-Putin movement share is an animus to the current system.
FORBES: The Anti-Putin Opposition and the US Civil Rights Movement
Mr Putin knows that America's proposed anti-missile system would be too small to block Russia's still powerful missile armoury.
Mr Putin and Mr Medvedev are well aware that the current system neither protects the property of the new oligarchs, nor provides a stable environment for growth.
Putin also complained about U.S. plans to put part of its missile defense system in Poland and the Czech Republic, and he complained about new forward bases in Romania and Bulgaria.
NPR: Iran a Stabilizing Force in Iraq, Iranian Official Says
Mr Putin clearly sees that creating the strong Russia he wants requires prosperity, and that the current system does not produce it.
Beyond that, Putin says that Russia will also have what's being described as a space weapon deterrent system by the year 2030, although specifics on it unsurprisingly remain a bit light for the time being.
But Putin was less successful in convincing South Korea that U.S. plans to build a missile defense system violates the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty.
Putin is becoming more anti-Western in foreign policy, the vertical of power is hardening into a system, liberals are loosing influence in the Kremlin are replaced by the Chekists.
Today, Putin said he'd be okay with U.S. missile defense plan if it use the radar system that already exists in Azerbaijan instead of building a new one in the Czech Republic.
应用推荐