NEWSLINK: “Kremlin Leadership Politics: No Longer ‘Bulldogs Fighting Under A Rug?'” – Center for European Policy Analysis/ Donald N. Jensen

“The 2017 edition of “Politburo 2.0″ the biannual overview of power in the Kremlin published by Moscow’s Minchenko Consulting Group, came out 23 August at an especially timely moment. First, with presidential elections scheduled for March 2018 and Russia’s Vladimir Putin not yet having formally declared his intention to serve another term, members of the elite are uncertain about their political prospects, which largely depend on the status quo-although there is little reason to doubt Putin will not run. Second, in the face of Russia’s economic prospects, intraleadership competition over increasingly scarce resources is intensifying. …”