Quote of the Week -Russia "You have to tell a society that has been craving stability that stability will not save you. You need to take risks and go and reform yourself. Stability is not your panacea. Without that, we will have stagnation "

Igor Y. Yurgens, an informal adviser to Mr. Medvedev who heads a research institute with ties to the Kremlin's progressive wing, said the suicide bombing and the Khodorkovsky verdict were jarring because they illustrated how the Russian leadership was so often ensnared in crises or preoccupied with tackling deep-rooted problems left over from the Soviet era.

Mr. Yurgens said Mr. Medvedev did not come across well at Davos, most likely because it was hard for him to immerse himself in the back-slapping atmosphere of a business retreat right after repeated meetings with generals and intelligence officials about terrorism. Nevertheless, Mr. Yurgens said, Mr. Medvedev has no choice but to shake up the country, just as young reformers have done in Russia since Peter the Great in the 18th century.

"This is a civilizational shift," Mr. Yurgens said. "You have to tell a society that has been craving stability that stability will not save you. You need to take risks and go and reform yourself. Stability is not your panacea. Without that, we will have stagnation and go back to where we were in 1980. Brezhnev, Act II."

Source: Russia: From Davos to Reality;  Clifford J. Levy. New York Times. (Late Edition (East Coast)). New York, N.Y.: Jan 30, 2011. pg. WK.4