Katz, Mark N.2010-08-302010-08-302007-07-13https://hdl.handle.net/1920/5949© 2007 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Deposited with permission from UPI.com.With Russian President Vladimir Putin slated to leave office in less than a year, what can be said about how history will judge him? He definitely has positive accomplishments to boast about: restoring order after the chaos of the Yeltsin years, presiding over an era of economic growth and prosperity, and doing much to re-establish Russia as a great power internationally. Some might argue that much of what he accomplished has been due to the fortuitous rise in oil prices that occurred -- and has been sustained -- after he came to office. Not every leader of a petroleum-producing country, though, has been able to take advantage of increased oil prices to increase his country's political clout the way Putin has.en-USInternational affairsPutin, Vladimir Vladimirovich, 1952-Article