This weekend's Russian press goes in for an orgy of analysis, taking an in-depth look at the main events of 2007 and. 2008.

ROSSIYSKAYA GAZETA weekly quotes experts on the main scheduled events of this year:

The Presidential election in Russia, March 2008. Dr. Dmitry Orlov from the Agency of political and economic communications writes a lot will depend on the New Putin Majority – a coalition of politically active citizens and parliamentarians who support the long-term strategy, the Putin Plan. This coalition is not a majority cemented by hope alone. like in the early years of the Putin presidency, but a pragmatic national coalition.

November: the Presidential election in the United States. Sergey Karaganov of the Council for Foreign and Defence Policy writes whatever the outcome of the election, the U.S. will have to admit the defeat they brought upon themselves and the world in Iraq. Washington will have to withdraw the American forces from the country. Within five to six years after that, writes the author, American influence in the world will be gradually return, especially if a Democrat wins the election. In Russia-U.S. relations, according to the academic, necessary cooperation will continue, but the competition will stay too, sometimes becoming more severe.

ITOGI weekly has a few maxims by a well-known Russian author, Grigory Oster. Just a couple for your attention:

Governments use a multitude of tools to make us happy. But they haven’t tried the most destructive ones yet. Mutual sincerity is the cause of most fights. Those who always look straight ahead without fear are at risk of being run over from behind.