Many Russians are hopeful that the president and now the Prime Minister is leading the country back to greatness. As Mr Putin said at his innaguration ceremony: “We are the heirs of 1,000 years of Russian history and the Motherland’s outstanding daughters and sons, workers, warriors and creators. They’ve bequeathed us a huge and great country. This greatness should be reinforced by new deeds. Only then will future generations be proud of the pages we have written in the biography of our great country, Russia”. Many Russians see their country as a great power, which, persevering through troubled times, will soon reemerge on to the world stage to take its rightful place among the elite. For them, Mr. Putin embodies both the best of the country’s Soviet past and their hopes for the future. Putin is a complex mix of Soviet and imperial tradition. The Soviet style manifests itself in the revival of Soviet-era symbols such as the anthem and the stylistics of the ceremonies. The Soviet imperial traditions are expressed in his geopolitical approach and the desire to concentrate power in one pair of hands. He wants to see Russia as a powerful state with a strong and modern economy, a member of the global elite. As for democracy, that’s a side issue. Russia is a big power, it is the world’s largest country, it possesses enormous wealth in the form of petroleum and other natural resources, and last but not least, it has a large army and a sizable nuclear arsenal.