The social upheavals in Russia after the collapse of the Soviet Union and during the subsequent era of former President Boris Yeltsin were really harrowing and disastrous. Russians still harbor fresh and painful memories of these periods of utter misery.
The Russian economy has changed drastically since 2000, when Putin became president. Economic growth in recent years has mainly been driven by oil exports and based on institutions formed in the turbulent 1990s like free market prices and private property.
Russia's new, young, attractive President – elected March 2 and taking office in May - may represent a dramatic new step in Russia's young democracy... or merely an unusual figurehead for a third Presidential term by Vladimir Putin acting through him.…