STANFORD – To read the international press, one would think that the last two years have been good ones for Russian President Vladimir Putin. His campaign in Ukraine has largely achieved its main goals; Russia has wrested control of Crimea and destabilized large portions of the rest of the country. Plunging oil prices may have wreaked havoc on Russia’s finances, but so far Putin’s popularity seems unaffected.
Read more at http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/russia-rulings-threaten-putin-by-paul-r--gregory-2015-08#TlIydcRgQwbTI79u.99