President Putin has said Russia could redirect its missiles to target Ukraine if Kyiv joined NATO. According to RFE/RL's guest authors, that kind of talk is representative of an increasingly truculent foreign policy, which goes largely unchallenged by Russia's political elite.

Over the past eight years, Russia's repression of its key domestic institutions has been a defining feature of its governance. The Kremlin's manipulation of Russia's recent parliamentary elections and presidential succession are the most recent examples of an ever-tightening grip on the country's political life.