^aHistorical Research Center, 501 Seward Square SE, Capitol Hill, Washington, DC 20003, USA. E-mail: rasizade@juno.com

Abstract

This essay reflects on the period of Putin's presidency in a broader context of general Russian history and maintains that Putin's Bonapartist mission has been historically predetermined. By characterizing the contemporary stage in Russia's political evolution as the Russian Thermidor, the author explains, from this viewpoint, the revanchist policy of Russia towards the West, as well as in the post-Soviet area, and predicts an inevitable drive to 'regather' the severed historic Russian lands, including territorial claims to the 'newly independent states,' as the ultimate resolution of the 'Russian Question.' Explicating the 'shock therapy' transition to capitalism as a robbery of state assets by the Russian plutocracy, the author argues in favor of the Chinese transition model and concludes that, in spite of all these detriments, the resurgence of Russia as a great power is ensured by its intellectual, economic and military potential, boosted by the highest oil and gas prices in history.