https://hotair.com/headlines/archives/2012/02/05/maybe-putin-will-be-a-reformer-this-time-around/feed/HotAir is the leading conservative blog for breaking news and commentary covering the Biden administration, politics, media, culture, and current elections.en-usFri, 12 Jun 2026 08:00:14 -0400<![CDATA[But what will Putin do next? Will he really fulfill his promise to let new parties emerge or just wait out his opposition, which is divided and still lacks a real national leader? Putin’s Russia is at a crossroads. It has become a “sort-of-but-not-really-country.” Russia today is sort of a democracy, but not really. It’s sort of a free market, but not really. It’s sort of got the rule of law to protect businesses, but not really. It’s sort of a European country, but not really. It has sort of a free press, but not really. Its cold war with America is sort of over, but not really. It’s sort of trying to become something more than a petro-state, but not really&#8230;]]>Sun, 05 Feb 2012 19:40:03 -0500<![CDATA[Allahpundit]]>https://hotair.com/headlines/2012/02/05/maybe-putin-will-be-a-reformer-this-time-around-n89857