The Policy Challenges of Russia's Post-Crisis Economy

The international climate in the aftermath of the 2008-2009 financial crisis offers Russia an opportunity to undertake an ambitious program of modernization through innovation and institutional change initially articulated by Putin's Strategy-2020, elaborated 2006-2008, and then Medvedev's 2009 "Russia, Forward!" manifesto. This article examines the complexities of Russia's choice of carrying on with state projects and monitoring from above or opening to private initiative and competition from abroad by looking at efforts to consolidate the corporate state, rhetorical, legal, and policy changes, and implementation of an economic reform agenda. The article asks if the pace of political reform is sufficient for the potential for these proposed economic changes to emerge.