RUSSIA:
The Putin Paradox*

By Michael McFaul

Russia’s new president may claim to represent democracy and economic liberalization, but his first months in office have given the West considerable cause for alarm. Hoover fellow Michael McFaul on actions that speak louder than words.
Sidebar: The On-the-Job Training of Vladimir Putin.

*This article is available only in the print edition of the Hoover Digest. Click here to request a free issue.

Michael McFaul is the Peter and Helen Bing Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution. He is also a professor of political science at Stanford. An expert on international relations, Russian politics, political and economic reform in post-communist countries, and U.S. foreign policy, he is director of the Center on Democracy, Development, and Rule of Law at the Freeman Spogli Institute, where he also serves as deputy director.