Vladimir Putin has been president of Russia for nearly two decades. And his reputation in America has taken center stage since the 2016 election.

But while we’re all following the investigation into ties between President Trump and Putin, it’s important to remember that the relationship between our two countries will long outlast these two men.

That’s why Russia scholar and government professor at Wesleyan University, Peter Rutland, recently wrote about the impending question in Russia —  what will happen to the country after Putin?

Putin first became president in 1999 and, even though the Russian Constitution requires that he step down after two consecutive terms, he got around that by moving sideways, becoming prime minister while his protege became president.

Then in 2012, he decided to go back to the presidency, and by 2024, the country will certainly be thinking about his successor.

But Rutland writes that there is a lot at stake in that transition for Russia and for the rest of the world.

I spoke with him more about this via Skype, and I asked him about this larger-than-life persona that Putin has to much of the world. He can seem like an absolute ruler of Russia, but he’s not.