Publication

This commentary focuses on Vladimir Putin’s creation of a new Russian National Guard force, which is apparently designed to absorb the Interior Ministry’s troops and special police forces and place them directly under Putin’s control. The commentary’s author goes on to note that this reform represents the most significant restructuring of Russia’s internal security organs in more than 10 years, and that it exposes Putin’s concerns over the relative health of the country’s political system, which faces persistent economic woes and upcoming parliamentary (September 2016) and presidential (March 2018) elections.