Rising Star: The Man Who Rules Russia

The dramatic rhetoric, the bold, often impulsive political gestures, the sometimes imperious style: as Boris Yeltsin has grown larger upon the political stage, the world has grown more familiar with his outsize personality, including his glaring character flaws and his impressive personal and political strengths. Yet there are transforming moments in a leader's life when his actions change forever the way he views himself or the way the world views him. Last week Yeltsin stood on such a pinnacle. All the qualities that made him one of the most fascinating and problematic political figures in the age of Gorbachev were recast...