SubtleViking

Great question. (I personally can't imagine he'd ever allow himself to lose an election)

Your little dustup on MSNBC about Putin not being omnipotent(a surprisingly controversial assertion) seems intuitively correct, but I was hoping you could go into a little more detail about the Russian 'power structure'. What is the source of his political staying power? What part do the oligarchs play in that?

It was recently announced that Khodorkovsky might be released as soon as 2014, do you expect that to happen and if so, what are the implications?

What's your favorite 'Russian' phrase? Insult?

If memory serves, you're the writer from TNR who likes the taste of horse steaks. Do you still hold the position that a horse steak>beef steak?