Let us ensure the West is listening.
Following Vladmir Putin’s decision that he will run again for President of the Russian Federation next March, there are questions about continuity or change in economic reform, political reform, weapons control, U.S.-Russian relations, and a host of other issues.
But there will surely be one constant: Putin’s concern about arresting the demographic decline of Russia — especially of Russia’s working-age males — which has significant implications for Russian society, economy, and standing in the world. This issue received global media attention in 2006, when then-President Putin said in his state of the nation address that “The most urgent problem facing Russia is demographic crisis.” In his recent speech to his party, United Russia, in which he and current President Dmitry Medvedev said they would swap positions next year, Prime Minister Putin emphasized again the importance of stopping Russian depopulation, while claiming that there had been progress in the past five years. This issue is the classic “under the water” part of the Russian iceberg, which will shape the nation’s direction for years to come.