The endorsement lets Putin say that he is abiding by term limits. Yet a day later, Medvedev announced that he wanted Putin to be his prime minister. While the rules are being followed, Putin seems, at least for now, to be retaining control.

Hovering over all these events is the question of why Putin and others in the Kremlin even bother with the democratic trappings. Given that Putin is highly popular, that the Russian public has long clung to a potent chieftain, why not just pack the Parliament, amend the Constitution and stay another term?

Putin appears in part motivated by a need to be seen on the world stage as a lawfully elected leader as genuine as his partners in the Group of Eight. There is an element of Russian pride in this sentiment. Having purportedly embraced democracy, the Kremlin cannot tolerate being told it does elections any less properly than the West. Nor does Putin care to be lumped with the presidents-for-life reigning in some other former Soviet republics.

Some analysts speculate that Putin and his associates fear making overtly autocratic moves, lest the West retaliate in ways that could hurt Russia’s economic revival. This view is not satisfying; American and European companies do plenty of business with Saudi Arabia, China and other authoritarian countries.

But there could be a more personal wrinkle: senior Kremlin officials may worry that they would be banned from traveling to the West and their personal finances might be imperiled.

... contd.