The announcement that Russia's prime minister, Vladimir Putin, will run for president in next March's election and will, if elected, appoint the current president, Dmitri Medvedev, as his prime minister brings to mind one of the most famous lines of Italian literature. In Giuseppe di Lampedusa's novel "The Leopard," set in 19th century Sicily, a young nobleman tells his conservative uncle that clinging to the past will not work. "If we want things to stay as they are," he says, "things will have to change." The Kremlin's proposed game of musical chairs is the kind of change whose only purpose is to keep things as they are.Vladimir Putin will run for Russian president; Medvedev to become prime ministerDaniel Treisman says the change is mostly about preserving the status quoHe says Putin and Medvedev both recognize the importance of keeping economy growingTreisman: The two work together, dividing up tasks in bid to remain in power
Barring a sudden collapse, this should be enough to get _ comfortably through next March's election, even without the predictable electoral irregularities. How effective he proves in this new role -- and how much leeway _ allows him -- remain to be seen.