Putin and the Provinces

Since Vladimir Putin became Prime Minister of Russia in August 1999, and especially since he assumed the presidency on December 31, he has placed a high priority on reasserting federal control over regional policy and politics. This objective has been a natural corollary of his focus on re-integrating Chechnya into the Russian Federation at all costs. In addition, many Western and Russian observers have pointed to his speculation about a return to direct appointment of regional chief executives as evidence that a broad federal offensive against the autonomy of regional leaders is imminent. This memo examines Putin's first steps toward a reformulation of regional policy and concludes that a direct confrontation between regional and federal leaders is unlikely to materialize in the coming months. Instead, Putin's early moves suggest a long-range strategy based on pitting provincial leaders against each other rather than provoking them to unite against the center. Harnessing powerful forces of inter-regional rivalries, this approach may well succeed in reversing the leakage of power from the center to the provinces, and it might do so by harnessing rather than stifling the subversive potential of electoral competition. […]

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