Although Russia has evolved in many ways since 1991, it’s worth taking a second look at the drivers behind the Soviet collapse and assessing which of them may be relevant for today’s Russia or could become relevant in the near to medium-term future.

Half a year  since Vladimir Putin’s election for a third presidential team, it is crystal clear that the expectations of a “Putin 2.0” raised by his aides during the campaign are plain unrealistic (unless, of course, “2” refers to the number of years that some of the more vocal critics of the Kremlin may have to spend in prison).

INCIDENT: After several weeks of public trading of barbs between the Kremlin and Moscow city authorities, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev decreed to fire the Russian capital's long-time mayor Yuri Luzhkov "due to loss of confidence."