Putin’s Russia: The State-Building Strategy

Today state-building processes go on in many parts of the world. In this article I look at Russia’s political development through the prism of state-building, with a focus on Putin’s state-building strategy and the factors that have made its realization possible. I argue that throughout the duration of his reign Putin distinguished himself as a vigorous and effective state-builder with a clearly defined state-building strategy. The paper examines his three-staged strategy: the weakening of Yeltsin’s “ruling coalition” and the accumulation of resources; administrative reforms and policy changes; nation-building.