Gleb Pavlovskiy

Gleb Pavlovky spent one month at the IWM during 2017 to work on his own research as part of the Russia in Global Dialogue Fellowship Program.

Russian politics today are a reaction to the country’s experiences since the end of the Cold War. Shortly after his election in 2000 Vladimir Putin sought to re-invent Russian politics in three main steps. First, he tried to establish a so-called “sovereign democracy”. Second, he developed a new economic model, seizing assets from oligarchs to create a form of state capitalism. Finally, he used these assets to restore Russia’s status as an energy superpower. With Dmitry Medvedev’s election the Putin model became a hotly debated topic. But rather than initiating a change, Medvedev’s current policy can be described as “Putin 2.0”. The model is becoming more open and pluralistic but its basics remain intact. The question rises: has Medvedev failed in providing a modernizing alternative?

Russian politics today are a reaction to the country’s experiences since the end of the Cold War. Shortly after his election in 2000 Vladimir Putin sought to re-invent Russian politics in three main steps. First, he tried to establish a so-called “sovereign democracy”. Second, he developed a new economic model, seizing assets from oligarchs to create a form of state capitalism. Finally, he used these assets to restore Russia’s status as an energy superpower. With Dmitry Medvedev’s election the
Putin model became a hotly debated topic. But rather than initiating a change, Medvedev’s current policy can be described as “Putin 2.0”. The model is becoming more open and pluralistic but its basics remain intact. The question rises: has Medvedev failed in providing a modernizing alternative?