With the reign of Ivan the Terrible in the 16th century, power in Russia took on an autocratic dimension. How has this personal practice of power crossed the centuries, up to Vladimir Putin? Virginie Girod receives Pierre Gonneau, professor at Sorbonne University and director of studies at the École Pratique des Hautes Études.
According to the historian, contemporary Russia has moved away from presidential rule and returned to a form of autocracy. “The Russian tsar is the heir of the Byzantine emperor. It is a single universal monarch who has the vocation to rule all Christians, in particular Orthodox Christians”