Your main leader on Vladimir Putin’s unexpected troubles is buttressed by the growing unrest across Russia (“The Cracks Appear,” December 10, 2011). As you say, his popularity has taken a nosedive in September, when he announced his intention to swap jobs with Dmitry Medvedev for the second time in the elections next March. The swap turned out to be a bit too much even for Russians, used as they have become to political shenanigans of every description. Your proposal that he should clean up the Kremlin, which is steeped in kleptocracy, and modernize the economy is far-fetched, though. Much safer route for Putin is a combination of nationalism and religious fervor. As a “strong-minded patriot,” to use your own words, he is capable of such a tack. His pet project, the Euroasian Union that brings together the former Soviet republics, and the rampant Christian Orthodox Church can do wonders in this regard. It is good to remember that many of the former Soviet republics were also part of the Tsarist Russia. Orthodoxy reaches far and wide, as well. And Putin is well placed to bring the imagined glory back to battered Russia. Cleaning up Kremlin and modernizing the economy can always wait.