The Russian Presidency of Dmitry Medvedev, 2008-2012: The Next Step Forward or Merely a Time Out? (Routledge Contemporary Russia and Eastern Europe Series)

The term "tandem" was used to describe the Putin-Medvedev combination which ruled Russia from 2008 to 2012, when Medvedev was president and Putin prime minister. Many people saw Putin as the real wielder of power, with Medvedev as his puppet. Others, however, saw Medvedev as a visionary, someone who envisioned large scale schemes - even though these schemes have not yet come to fruition. At the same time, many in the West regarded Medvedev favourably, and gave him credit for raising expectations among both the elite and the middle classes in Russia in such a way as to make it difficult for the Russian state to return to its old ways. This book presents a comprehensive survey of the Medvedev presidency, covering all areas including politics, the economy, international relations and social developments. The author concludes that it is still too early to assess Medvedev's achievements definitively. Cover 1 Half Title 2 Title Page 8 Copyright Page 9 Table of Contents 10 List of illustrations 12 Preface 13 Acknowledgements 18 Transliteration and sources 19 Abbreviations and key terms 20 Introduction 24 Who was Dmitry Medvedev in 2008? 28 1 The Tandem 34 The presidency and its power base 35 The agenda 38 The Tandem in action 38 The Tandem - frayed 47 Presidential ambitions 49 A momentous decision 52 Presidential election campaign, 2012 55 The aftermath 58 2 The Russian Federation: source of strength and weakness 65 The North Caucasus quicksand 73 3 The political cockpit 85 The legislature 88 Voices outside the legislature 92 The government 95 Preparing for the State Duma election 97 The election campaign 101 The aftermath 102 4 Economic considerations 114 Recession 115 World Trade Organization and the Customs Union 120 Modernization 121 Agriculture 130 Energy and the pipeline 'great game' 134 5 Themes in foreign affairs 154 War in Georgia 155 Ripple effects 160 Looking east - toward Beijing 163 Looking west - toward Washington 175 Defence matters 186 6 Society, daily life, and the corruption conundrum 199 Social unrest 199 Infrastructure 202 Natural disasters and other calamities 205 Demography and health 206 The NGO phenomenon 212 The corruption impasse 214 Concluding remarks 236 Appendix 239 Bibliography 242 Index 248 "The term 'tandem' was used to describe the Putin-Medvedev combination which ruled Russia from 2008 to 2012, when Medvedev was president and Putin prime minister. Many people saw Putin as the real wielder of power, with Medvedev as his puppet. Other people, however, saw Medvedev as a visionary, someone who envisioned large scale schemes - even though these schemes have not yet come to fruition. At the same time, many in the West regarded Medvedev favourably, and gave him credit for raising expectations among both the elite and the middle classes in Russia in such a way as to make it difficult for the Russian state to return to its old ways. This book presents a comprehensive survey of the Medvedev presidency, covering all areas including politics, the economy, international relations and social developments. The author concludes that it is still too early to assess Medvedev's achievements definitively"-- Provided by publisher