Time has chosen Putin as the person of the year 2007.

The Time.com article offers some very interesting insights into Putin.
The stoic looking leader has led Russia from bottom pits to a stage where
the country now has some hope of regaining its glorious past.
I am not well versed with the Russian political scenario, but tend to
agree with some of the views Putin brings to international
politics.

(How do Russians see Putin? For generations they have defined their leaders through political jokes. It’s partly a coping mechanism, partly a glimpse into the Russian soul. In the oft told anecdotes, Leonid Brezhnev was always the dolt, Gorbachev the bumbling reformer, Yeltsin the drunk. Putin, in current punch lines, is the despot. Here’s an example: Stalin’s ghost appears to Putin in a dream, and Putin asks for his help running the country. Stalin says, “Round up and shoot all the democrats, and then paint the inside of the Kremlin blue.” “Why blue?” Putin asks. “Ha!” says Stalin. “I knew you wouldn’t ask me about the first part.” )