Russian Politics And Society In The Putin Era Essay Template For Faster Writing

Russia in the past 10 or 15 years the era dominated by Vladimir Putin as the most powerful man in the country has been marked for seemingly increasing importance of Russia in the international scene. Russia after going through a tough period of readjustment in the 1990s emerged in this century as one of the leading powers in an increasingly fractured world. Russia has a very large footprint in a very important part of the world, serving as a bridge between Europe and Asia. Russia under Putin has had a very active foreign policy which has been marked as being somewhat “expansionist” in their relationship with their neighbors, an economy that has grown but mostly as a result of the importance of oil to the economy as a structural key to growth and finally the role of organized crime in the Russian economy and society in the Putin era.
Russian foreign policy in the Putin era has been incredibly active and activist and it has pursued interests that seem to be in total opposition to the wishes of the West. Russia has been trying to piece together what Russia lost after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Putin believes that Russia is something entirely different from the West and that role of the government in Moscow to exercise power over a new Russian civilization. Putin believes that “Moscow is the protector of Russians worldwide. Where there are Russians and Russian-speakers and where Russian culture and the Russian Orthodox faith hold or held sway, these are nash — "ours."  This was the reason why Putin invaded Georgia in 2008, to protect the Russians there and also why Russia annexed Crimea and are currently trying to pry eastern Ukraine away from Kiev because they are “Russian” lands populated by Russian people. For Putin the most important factor in Russian foreign policy is the language of identity and of being something different from the west.This is markedly important in the context of Russia working against the interests of the international community by supporting Bashar al-Assad as key to his foreign policy of supporting countries outside of the west as the future of Russia’s growth as power in the 21st century. Russia’s foreign policy aims under Putin have been simple they have aimed to make the Russian state as well as the Russian people stronger for the future.
Russia’s economy under Putin has in large part been a result of the Kremlin’s commitment to oil and gas as the way to assure growth well into the 21st century. Putin himself argued in article that he wrote before becoming president that it was through the “eextraction, processing and exploitation of mineral raw resources.” That Russia would become “a great economic power.” When oil prices were high this was a great strategy for growth, Russia was one of the global darling along with the other BRIC nations as the future of the world economy. But since the crash in oil process in the past few years Russia’s economy has floundered with it being as dependent as it on the export of oil and gas as a key to growth. Having an economy dependent on natural resources often leads to many issues and that is exactly what is happening to Russia right now with the devaluation of its currency and increasing government debt as main issues. The Russian economy being as structurally dependent as it is on oil exports will have a hard time regaining growth until oil prices rebound to a higher level.
Another very important fact about the Russian economy in the Putin years is defined by the importance of organized crime and the amount of corruption in the Russia state. The process of privatization and the amount of corruption in that process created a massive new capitalist class that was already connected to a very power Soviet criminal underworld. Many of the wealthiest and most important business people in Russia are in some way to organized crime. These so-called oligarchs exist in somewhat of a liminal space between legitimate business and criminal enterprise. Russia as with the other post-Soviet states had much of its economic growth connected to growth of organized crime and corruption. The state doesn’t seem to be very concerned with fighting organized crime because so many people benefit within it.
Russian politics in the era of Putin has been marked by a very active foreign policy which has aimed to build a new Russian state that has as its main goal the protection of Russians everywhere. This is was the reason for both the invasion of Georgia in 2008 as well as the current conflict in Ukraine. Second the Russian economy has grown massively because of its commitment to oil and gas exports and that has also hurt it as oil prices have declined in recent years. Third, organized crime has been very significant factor in Russian politics and society and its presence is just a fact of life in Russia as so many very important people are connected so it is not worth actually combating. Putin has built a Russia under his own image and that has proven to be both good and bad in almost equal measure.