t politically weak Yeltsin years, Putin restored stability to the country by reining in forces of decentralisation and competition, creating the power vertical , restoring control over the country by the Kremlin and its allied party United Russia, and recapturing state control over the commanding heights of the economy. He was lucky enough to preside over this restoration while oil prices skyrocketed from $ 27 a barrel in 2000 to $ 130 a barrel by mid-2008. Where under Yeltsin powerful oligarchs could sometimes pursue their own commercial interests abroad, under Putin foreign policy-making was recentralised. Indeed, during the Putin years, it became increasingly challenging to understand how Russian foreign policy is made. On many crucial decisions-for instance, support for the United States establishing military bases in Central Asia after 9/11, support of Viktor Yanukovich during the 2004 Ukrainian elections or turning off the gas to Ukraine in January 2006-the assumption was that President Putin himself was the ultimate decision maker. Nevertheless, it appeared that the domestic power vertical extended to foreign policy which was made by a narrow circle of people. To some extent, the emergence of Russia for the first time ever as a major global economic player was a result of forces outside the Kremlin s control, namely high energy prices. In 2007, Russian economic output was 70% larger than in 1999 in real terms and Russian economic performance was considerably above what was predicted a few years earlier. Putin pursued a skilful economic policy for much of his time in office, with sound fiscal measures, the creation of a fund from energy pro? Ts that could be used for investment in Russia and abroad, the early payback of Russia < span align = "justify"> s foreign debt and some domestic diversi? cation away from an economy based solely on raw materials production and export. Putin succeeded in one of his key goals-restoring Russia s status as a great power whose interests have to be taken into account by the international community. This is partly a product of Russia s growing economic clout, but also because the international environment created opportunities that Putin, initially playing a weak hand rather well, was able to use to Russia s advantage. The major legacy of the Putin era that is in part a consequence of the brittle nature of the US-Russian relationship is Russia s determination to revise the agreements of the 1990s, ensure that it never again signs up to policies determined solely by the West and insist that no major international problem can be resolved without Russia s participation. If need be, Rus...
