Russia Enters a Year of Post-Olympic Blues. (cover story)

ECONOMIC conditions in Russia, 1991-; RUSSIAN politics & government, 1991-; SUICIDE bombings; INTERNATIONAL relations; CIVIL war; OLYMPIC Winter Games (22nd : 2014 : Sochi, Russia)

The article reports on the economic and political conditions in Russia as it enters 2014. It cites the suicide explosions in Volgograd on December 29 and 30, 2013 which proved the evolving civil war in the North Caucasus and justify the indefinite continuation of the unilateral control of President Vladimir Putin over the country's politics. It also cites the need for a solid economic foundation in the foreign policy and the country's inherent economic weaknesses after the Winter Olympics boom.