Towards Putin's Last Presidency?

The March 2018 elections in Russia are all but certain to deliver a fourth term to President Putin. However, the anti-corruption protests of 2017 signalled that, in the long term, the Kremlin might have to cope with a lack of steady economic growth and modernization. Questions linger as to whether some of the recent political and institutional trends – namely the growing influence of the military on the Kremlin’s decisions and the “technocraticization” of the governing elite – will be confirmed during Putin’s next stint as Russian president. As this will probably, though not certainly, be Putin’s last term, succession struggles in Moscow and attempts by the president to secure a safe departure from office are likely to impact on Russian politics in the years to come.