Why is there this talk of Russia as a 'declining power' - and is it true? I'd suggest we ought to use the term with caution, not least as we are all declining...

The Saradzhan and Abdullaev piece I mentioned is here.

In the second part, I take a silly survey that claimed to find that Putin is Russia's most handsome man and combine it with criminal slang and plastic pop music to speculate about power versus legitimacy...

Oh, and if you want more of that song (gods have mercy on your soul), the full video is here.

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