I might have missed it in the clutter (which yes, I'm partially responsible for as well)
So what specifically do you attribute his ability to be a major player on the world stage in regards to the fairly recent situations? For at least fifteen years after the fall of the Soviet Union, Russians took more of a back seat in the world political scene. What changed the paradigm?
Not a troll post, I'm curious as to your response.
Oh, I don't take it as a troll post. Just a legitimate question. To be clear though, I disagree with this whole model of international politics, regardless if it actually increases a nation's power or standing. The nation-state model to international diplomacy creates more problems than it solves,in my opinion. And the US has been as equally culpable in serving this model as Russia.
To the point of your question though, I'm no expert in Russian politics, but here's how I read Putin's rise: I see Putin as a neo-czarist autocrat. That is to say, he's extremely nationalist and has co-opted oligarchic capitalism (read aristocracy). With the help of these individuals, I think he's been able to consolidate power, renew nationalist zeal, and enable the Russian economy, for better or worse. And anytime such a model becomes intertwined with nationalism, you can create a moment of increased national power. The question is how long such a moment will last. There are suggestions that it may not last very long, but Putin can stall the inevitable with his vast natural resources, particularly oil and natural gas.
Honestly, I've been debating over and over in my head whether or not Putin is a neo-czarist autocrat as I suggested earlier or if he's some sort of bizarre neo-fascist. He's certainly not a communist, although he does project the nationalism of the Soviet model, but these sentiments were in place before the Soviets. Hell, the Soviets should have been internationalists, rather than nationalists.
And here is the BBC article. Brief and not very analytical, but certainly suggests that Putin's approach has some serious flaws. Will he fix them or be able to overcome them? We'll see.
BBC News - Russian rouble hits new low against the dollar and euro
