• A regime that for twenty years sought to be an exemplar of ‘hybrid authoritarianism,’ seems to be seeking to get back to basics. Belarus, Navalny, the persecution of his anti-corruption organisation FBK and independent media have made Putin change his mind. It is not (yet) totalitarianism, but it is definitely a watershed.
    by Mark Galeotti

  • Recent arrests and dismissals of governors, nominations of body guards of Putin to high professions, leaks of American emails seem to fit a

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