Russian succession

Last week there was either a changing of the guard or a game of musical chairs in Russia, as Dmitri Medvedev was sworn in as president and Vladimir Putin, termed-out after 8 years as president, was, as expected, appointed prime minister. Nobody really knows whether this is really Putin's third term or a real transition to new leadership. With Russia prosperous -- thanks more to the price of petroleum than anything the government has done except to take an inordinate cut from the state-owned or state-controlled oil companies -- Putin is still popular and could no doubt have won a third term if it had been an option. Medvedev is untested except as Putin's student for the last 20 years or so, but the presidency is institutionally a more powerful position than prime minister, so leadership conflicts may be in the offing -- or not.

Anyway, here's the Register's editorial on the uncertainty in a country where few if any U.S. core interests are at stake, but which bears watching because Putin, and apparently most Russians, think it's time for Russia to reassert herself as a Great Power.

Yawn. It's so old-school nation-state.

Putin's successor anointed

Here is the Register's editorial on the Russian election, with Putin's anointed successor, Dmitri Medvedev, winning handily. The government probably didn't have to cheat and intimidate so blatantly to win this one, but it did so anyway. Really clumsy. After griping about the election irregularities a bit, the U.S. should accept the results and shut up for a while, then quietly start asking how Russia intends to see to it that Iran doesn't get nukes, and can we cooperate.