U.S. to have to reckon with ‘Putin factor’ till 2018 – analyst

MOSCOW. Jan 9 (Interfax) – The fact that Foreign Policy magazine has declared Russian President Vladimir Putin last year’s most influential figure in global politics, business and public affairs means “the so-called ‘Putin factor’ will play a significant role in the foreign policy of the United States for the next five years,” a Russian political scientist said.

“Foreign Policy is a well-known magazine, and its rankings arouse great interest throughout the world, including in the American establishment, for which it is important to understand who objectively enjoys weight and influence in the world. The admission of Putin’s role was made by ‘biting the bullet,’ as the saying goes. The vacancy of first place shows how reluctantly the American elite make such admissions. But Putin’s place in the rankings of the American magazine needs no comment,” Leonid Polyakov, head of the general political science department of Moscow’s Higher School of Economics, told Interfax on Friday.

Foreign Policy’s assessment is a blow to alleged attempts to discredit Putin, Polyakov argued.

“It is well known that last year there were such attempts and that they weren’t successful. The assessment in the rankings reflects forced recognition of Vladimir Putin as a politician and leader with whom Washington will have to do business up until 2018, until the next presidential election in Russia,” the academic said.

Foreign Policy’s assessment “warrants expectations that the so-called ‘Putin factor’ will play a significant role in the foreign policy of the United States for the next five years,” he said.

Foreign Policy left the top rung in the rankings blank, arguing that the scale of global problems meant no one would have been able to cope with them single-handed.