Holy Cross Professor Warns ‘Putin’s Certain Triumph Heralds Fresh Uncertainty’

In Russia’s upcoming election on March 18^th, current President Vladimir Putin is expected to win in double-digits, an electoral victory that, according to the Russian constitution, should be his last. However, scholars including Cynthia Hooper, Holy Cross associate professor of history and director of Russian and Eastern European Studies, warn that the Russian president has no intention to diminish from Russian politics. In an article for The Conversation, Hooper draws attention to several signals of Putin’s willingness to sidestep the law.

After two terms as president, Putin stepped down in 2008 while continuing to pull the strings from behind the scenes, regaining in 2012 “the top political office, all seemingly without having violated the tenets of democracy,” says Hooper. Putin may also be emboldened by China’s recent vote to abolish term limits, a move Hooper says is “cautioning Russia’s rich and powerful to think twice about conspiring behind the scenes.”

For the full article, go to The Conversation.