Friendless
The first bilateral meeting between Putin and Trump (and their third meeting in total) brought no tangible results, as the US President faced pressure from the Congress, and the Russian President had no intention of making any unilateral friendly steps. Ahead of the upcoming US Congressional elections, Moscow is not expecting any positive changes. However, the establishment of a bilateral expert dialogue group could help find some common ground for agreements in the future.
The Football World Cup came as an organizational success, with hundreds of thousands of international visitors. However, it brought limited international political benefits as most influential foreign leaders did not attend the tournament, nor did regular football fans from Western countries. Internally, the World Cup was seen as a great sports celebration that was used to mask unpopular reforms, and even the national team’s success will hardly benefit Putin as he only attended the games for which his ceremonial presence was absolutely necessary.
Widespread inmate torture in Russian prisons, although well known for a while, became a cause of an international scandal after an especially cruel and cynical episode. However, no immediate changes are likely unless there is another episode of rivalry between various law enforcement agencies. In that case, torture may become a pretext for a leadership change in the penitentiary system.
Russians have become significantly less enthusiastic about higher education in the last 10 years. The number of people believing that higher education ensures career success and achieving life goals fell from three quarters to less than two thirds in that time. Meanwhile, 72% of young adults (18-24 years) believe that higher education is overrated and unnecessary to succeed in one’s career and life goals.
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