Everybody loves Putin: at the Victory Day celebrations in Moscow, May 2018.

by Michael Kimmage

Many Russia observers focus on the post-Soviet state’s grip on society but often miss its popular foundation—and how elements of Russian society enabled Putin’s rise.

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Red dawn: Russian and Syrian soldiers outside eastern Ghouta, Syria, February 2018.

by Michael McFaul

As long as Putin remains in power, changing Russia from the outside will be close to impossible. Washington’s strategy needs to recognize this reality.

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A portrait of Peter the Great by Hippolyte (Paul) Delaroche, 1838.

by Stephen Kotkin

For centuries, Russia has held geopolitical ambitions that exceed its capabilities. President Vladimir Putin’s attempts to secure Moscow a prominent place on the world stage follow this historical pattern.

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Putin makes a speech in Moscow's Red Square, May 9, 2014.

by Andrei Soldatov and Irina Borogan

If the Kremlin wishes to move past Russia’s tsarist and Soviet history, it will have to rein in the seemingly untrammeled power of the country’s security services.

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