The innocent may believe that the latest developments reinforce the liberal faction in the Kremlin but... But I don't know anyone in the Kremlin who obeys Medvedev. Sure, Sergei Ivanov was not promoted to successor because he demonstrated his aspirations in too open a manner. Medvedev proved smarter than that. Come to think of it, Putin is recommending a figurehead to us. Medvedev has never managed anything. He is just an official of the presidential administration.

How do you expect him to govern the state? If you ask me, it's precisely that. He is not expected to govern. The idea is to have him refrain from interfering. So the question is what kind of political system they are setting up in Russia. The answer remains obscure, and Medvedev's nomination doesn't clarify matters. Let's wait for United Russia's Óongress. If Putin decides to join the party and become its leader, it would certainly mean a transition from presidents and prime ministers to Soviet-style general secretaries. It will inevitably establish two centers of power, and this kind of duality in Russia always results in bloodshed. Along with everything else, I cannot wait to know the results of Putin's visit to Minsk. What if he considers the post of the head of the Union? I'd have said he does but for Alexander Lukashenko... I'd like to point out, however, that history of Russia knows the episodes when two power factions join combat, understand that a bloodshed is inevitable, and choose a compromise figure for the time being. That was how Leonid Brezhnev was promoted once. Two factions in the Politburo, at each other's throats, decided to promote Brezhnev to earn themselves a respite and regroup. They did.
Brezhnev outlasted them all.