Vladimir Putin

Il presidente russo Vladimir Putin può vantarsi di aver riportato la Russia a occupare una posizione rilevante nello scacchiere geopolitico mondiale. Tuttavia, l'ex ufficiale del KGB deve far fronte a un grande rischio che mette a repentaglio non solo la proiezione internazionale, ma anche la stabilità politica interna della Russia: la stagnazione economica. Se l’economia russa sembra essersi lasciata alle spalle i momenti più difficili e la recessione del 2015-2016 sembra ormai superata, la crescita rimane, però, ancora debole.

Il prossimo 31 dicembre in Russia si celebrerà il ventesimo anniversario della presidenza di Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin. Era infatti il 31 dicembre 1999 quando un debole (politicamente e fisicamente) Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin rassegnò le sue dimissioni e nominò Putin, allora primo ministro, presidente.

As the joke goes in Moscow, inquiring about president Vladimir Putin’s succession would be similar to asking about life after death. With the passage of time, the topic is naturally becoming increasingly relevant. Vladimir Putin’s fourth term ends in 2024 and according to the country’s constitution he is not allowed to run for re-election.

One of Russia's main domestic challenges in the near future is fragmentation. Although president Vladimir Putin's approval rating is still very high – 68% in September according to the independent Levada Centre – there are a few elements suggesting that the "invisible pact of stability" that has bonded the ruling power and the people over the last twenty years is now slightly damaged. Polls show dissimilar data.

If the old phrase “demography is destiny” holds true, Russia’s future looks particularly dire. The Russian population has declined for the first time in a decade, as a result of what has been labelled the second demographic crisis.

Over the last two decades, Russia has taken on a very important geopolitical and military role globally, but the domestic outlook of the country is not particularly rosy from many points of view: a stagnant economy, a growing disaffection of the middle class especially in major cities, the emigration of a considerable number of highly educated young people, the strong aversion to pension reforms on the part of most of the population, the very poor result obtained by the government party in the last administrative elections despite the exclusion from the electoral lists of m

Russia’s foreign policy since the start of Vladimir Putin’s fourth term has been grabbing increased attention in the Western political and media circles. However, it would be hard to analyse some of Moscow’s most controversial foreign policy decisions without looking at the most acute domestic challenges facing the country today. How do these challenges interact with Russia's growing assertiveness abroad? 

“Vogliamo cambiare l’Europa. La nostra Europa deve essere molto più vicina alla Russia”, diceva Gianluca Savoini al famoso incontro in una sala dell’hotel Metropol di Mosca. Per conto della sua associazione Lombardia-Russia, di Matteo Salvini o di tutti e due, Savoini immaginava “una grande alleanza pro-Russia”, snocciolando nomi e sigle: da Mme Le Pen e la Lega, ai sovranisti, agli antisemiti e ai neo-nazisti del vecchio continente.