What Does Putin’s Re-Election Mean for the World?

This we can say with high confidence: Vladimir Putin will be declared the victor of the now ongoing three-day election, ushering in another six years as Russia's president. There's less confidence in what comes next, but there are strong clues: more men for the Ukraine war, new taxes to fund the war, new personnel shuffling within the Kremlin, new threats for NATO, and new repression of dissent. The strongest clues came in Putin's state-of-the-nation speech last month. Above all, says Tatyana Stanovaya, a veteran expert of Russian politics, was…