The Man Who Tamed Russia

Your selection of Russian President Vladimir Putin as Person of the Year was spot on [Dec. 31, 2007–Jan. 7, 2008]. Putin may yet become the single most important person of the 21st century. Occupying the largest landmass of any nation, Russia has just begun to tap its natural resources and national potential. Putin's rise to power in 1999 is an astonishing story and was a stroke of genius by an otherwise embarrassing drunk of a President, Boris Yeltsin. Putin is that rare individual who came to govern Russia without the cancerous corruption that seems to plague East European politics. We have...

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