Putin's successor or puppet?

To say the fix was in would be to state the obvious. But there's no other way to characterize the election of Dmitry Medvedev as Russia's new president, a win as predictable as the victory party that accompanied it. And that includes the must-attend Sunday night concert in Red Square where a chorus of supporters shouted the name of the grand master and architect of Mr. Medvedev's win, Vladimir V. Putin. The current president has made it clear that he intends to remain very active as Mr. Medvedev's prime minister. With foreign policy at the top of his presidential portfolio, Mr. Medvedev is going to have to strike out on his own if he expects the world community to take him seriously.

Until now, Mr. Medvedev has tailored his sound bites in favor of more freedoms, less corruption and a strong system of laws. But his appearances have been so scripted and access to him so controlled that, outside the Kremlin, there's no evidence so far that Mr. Medvedev is anything other than Mr. Putin's drone. The 42-year-old lawyer has said that Mr. Putin would help craft the new government and his administration. Mr. Medvedev said he would oversee foreign policy, as the Russian constitution dictates, and there are several contentious issues, from Darfur to Iran, that would benefit from Russia's using its influence in a more positive way.

Many Russians might prefer to leave things as they are, with Mr. Putin in a different role but still in charge. Mr. Putin's leadership and strong-arm policies have returned Russia to a role of prominence on the world stage, bolstered the economy and improved the standard of living for many Russians. But those gains came at the expense of democratic reforms and freedoms. Mr. Medvedev had such an easy time of it because the Kremlin precluded opponents from vigorously challenging him.

Mr. Medvedev may have no ambition beyond sharing power with his mentor. That would leave Mr. Putin basically in control and his anti-Western views paramount. In recent weeks, Mr. Medvedev has been outspoken on the importance of a free press, an independent judiciary and the pace of corruption. But unless the president-elect acts on those concerns, he will be little more than a well-rehearsed puppet in Mr. Putin's stage show.