Abstract:
Some light has finally been shed on the mystery of who will lead Russia after the expiration of Vladimir Putin's second term as president in 2008. Putin has long pledged that he will honor the Russian constitution's limit of serving only two four-year terms in this post. Uncertainty has abounded about who would succeed him and what that person's policy preferences would be, or whether Putin would alter the constitution (which he could easily do) in order to serve a third term.
