Economist: Vladimir the Great

The omens were bad. A few hours before Vladimir Putin, Russia's president, was to start his state-of-the-nation address on Dec. 4, Chechen insurgents launched an attack on Grozny, the Chechen capital. The presidential motorcade was spotted rushing to the Kremlin in the middle of the night. But when Putin finished speaking, there was a light sigh of relief. He did not declare war on the West, or order every human-right organisation in the country to be shut down; he even promised not to suffocate private business. By current Russian standards, this was the height of liberalism.