Taylor Talks to the Associated Press, Wall Street Journal About Putin’s Fifth Term

May 10, 2024

The Associated Press,The Wall Street Journal

Brian Taylor

Political Science Department

Moynihan Institute of Global Affairs

Program for the Advancement of Research on Conflict & Collaboration

Government

International Affairs

Russia

The Associated Press

The Wall Street Journal

Brian Taylor

Vladimir Putin began another six-year term as Russia's president this week after sidelining or eliminating his rivals. The war in Ukraine is the top concern during his fifth term, and he is showing no indication of changing course.

“The war in Ukraine is central to his current political project, and I don’t see anything to suggest that that will change. And that affects everything else,” Brian Taylor, professor of political science and director of the Moynihan Institute of Global Affairs, tells the Associated Press.

“It affects who’s in what positions, it affects what resources are available and it affects the economy, affects the level of repression internally,” he says.

In the Wall Street Journal article, “Secure at Home, Putin Builds on the Alliances He Needs to Prevail in Ukraine,” Taylor says Putin “will be spending most of his time thinking about the war and that includes thinking about foreign relations because Russia is not in a position economically to take on the entire West by itself.”