Less than a month away from the scheduled March 26 Russian presidential elections, the world press (Russian media included) tries hard to solve the riddle of Vladimir Putin, Russia's acting president.
That Putin will win the election is almost a foregone conclusion. However, attempts by pundits to answer the question
Igor Torbakov is a freelance journalist who specializes in CIS political affairs. He holds a MA in History from the Moscow University and PhD from the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences; Regional Exchange Scholar at the Kennan Institute, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Washington DC, 1995; Research Scholar at the Institute of Russian History, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, 1988-1997; Kiev correpsondent for the Paris-based Russkaya mysl weekly, 1998-2000; currently a Visiting Fulbright Scholar at the Harriman Institute, Columbia University.
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