President Medvedev will be in charge of state institutions and set Russia's foreign and domestic policies but will he differ in his policies from Putin or will he continue Putin's course of action? This is yet clear. He will chair the Security Council and the State Council much the same as Putin and it is hoped he can carry on Putin's work in bilateral relations with other European leaders as he is seen in Russia as a "liberal" who wants to intergrate Russia more fully into world affairs. The debate at the moment is whether Medvedev's liberal approach could be seen in Russia as weak in regards to the West or whether he will be able to push for Russian buisness interests abroad while bringing onside other world leaders over the next decade. The other issue is whether he has the same level of skills as Putin in bilateral negotiations but Putin obviously believes he does and has backed his campaign for president fully.
With the United States electing a new president we may see a new era of Russian and US relations and Medvedev has hinted that he wants to further improve international relationships while steadfastly working on Russian infrastructure to bring it up to world standards. We can expect a change in the world political map over the coming years.
Medvedev's domestic acheivements in housing and education are still ongoing and he has said these programs will be his main objective as president but he hopes to support Russian businesses more in the future to avoid the huge monetary leakages of the 1990's under Yeltsin.
While Medvedev has been labelled "the smart kid lawyer" and "softly spoken" and political commentators have said they have never heard him shout or lose his temper he is no doubt competent enough to deal with the heavy burdon of being Russian president but whether he becomes a confrontational leader or a diplomatic president is dependant on how he balances the wishes of the Russian people and leglislature with his foreign policy skills.
