Vladimir Putin is a familiar face to every Russian and to news-attentive audiences worldwide. Nonetheless, he keeps many thoughts to himself and seldom provides more than a glimpse of what goes on inside his head. He has never written memoirs. His most revealing personal interviews were in the winter of 2000, prior to his initial election as president (published in English under the title First Person).
Most Western accounts of contemporary Russian politics focus on the question of regime — how power is distributed between state and society, broadly construed. An alternative lens would privilege ideas and values over the institutional technology for achieving them. Are the goals of the system Putin has built liberal or conservative? Does it sit on the left or the right of the political spectrum? Is it nationalist or internationalist? Are its economics capitalist or socialist?
What Does Putin’s Conservatism Seek to Conserve? — Valdai Club
