Reporting in the Western media that the United States government was linking Russian President Vladimir Putin to corruption has rocked Russian domestic politics. Specifically, a recent BBC documentary carried remarks to this effect by Acting U.S. Treasury Department Undersecretary Adam J. Szubin, who heads the Office of Intelligence and Analysis (Slon.ru, January 26). The real … Continue reading Confrontation with the West becomes personal for Putin – and inescapable