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Foreign Policy
Foreign Policy
4 May 2025


NextImg:How Putin Transformed Russia

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When Russian President Vladimir Putin was sworn in for his first term on May 7, 2000, few analysts could have predicted that the 47-year-old democratically elected leader would one day seize control of the Russian state and remake Moscow into a revanchist power.

“[I]f you had asked me or basically anyone whether Vladimir Putin would become the longest-serving Russian leader since Joseph Stalin, the response would have likely been either incredulous silence or uproarious laughter,” Susan B. Glasser, FP’s former editor in chief, wrote in 2020. “Putin’s main qualifications for the job … were that he was: young, articulate, and, literally, sober.”

Twenty-five years on, as Putin continues to consolidate control at home and prolong the war in Ukraine, we wanted to reflect on his reign. Below, you’ll find some of our best essays on what drives Putin, how he transformed Russia, and where he fits into the arc of Russian history.


Putin (right) with his parents in 1985 just before his departure to East Germany as a KGB officer.
Putin (right) with his parents in 1985 just before his departure to East Germany as a KGB officer.

Putin (right) with his parents in 1985 just before his departure to East Germany as a KGB officer. Laski Diffusion/via Getty Images

How Putin Learned to Hold Deadly Grudges

Russia’s president has been shaped by decades of bitterness and revenge, William Taubman writes.


 
Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks prior the military parade
Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks prior the military parade

Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks prior the military parade of the celebrations marking the 60th anniversary of the Allied victory over Nazi Germany in WW II, on May 9, 2005 on the Red Square in Moscow. YURI KADOBNOV/AFP via Getty Images

The Intellectual Catastrophe of Vladimir Putin

The meaning of Russia’s war in Ukraine is its own national weakness, Paul Berman writes.


Various photos of Russian President Vladimir Putin
Various photos of Russian President Vladimir Putin

AFP via Getty Images

How Putin Changed Russia Forever

In 2020, 11 leading experts looked back at his reign and predicted what the future may bring.


A black and white photo of a man standing at a podium holding his arm out.
A black and white photo of a man standing at a podium holding his arm out.

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn speaks at Harvard University on June 8, 1978, where he said that the most noticeable thing about the West is what he called “decline in courage.” Bettmann Archive/Getty Images

How Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn Became Putin’s Spiritual Guru

Casey Michel tells the strange story of a global literary hero who went on to inspire Russia’s war on Ukraine.


 
A collage illustration shows half of the face of Joseph Stalin and half of the face of a larger Vladimir Putin alongside a star with a Z on top of it.
A collage illustration shows half of the face of Joseph Stalin and half of the face of a larger Vladimir Putin alongside a star with a Z on top of it.

Foreign Policy illustration/Getty Images

Russia Is Back to the Stalinist Future

With a Soviet-style election, Putin’s Russia has come full circle, Adrian Karatnycky writes.