Will Russia be a Rising State a Great Failure?

Will Russia be a rising state or a great Failure?

The collapse of the Soviet Union lead to creation of the New

Independent Republic. World politics dramatically changed in 1991 when

Communism ended in Eastern Europe and Russia. These republics are trying to

rebuild their economies and find the way toward the democratic regimes. The

largest country in the post-Soviet borders Russia has inherited a legacy of

the Soviet Union. Many features influence the Russian society and economy

which are Russian media, Russia-US relations and the problems Russia faces

in its transition to the democratic society with a market economy.

Russians are trying to reconstruct their economy and social system.

Russia has many challenges and obstacles to overcome during their period of

reconstruction. These obstacles include the destruction of the economic

ties with its former suppliers and customers in the United Republics,

corruption, war in Chechnya as well as “Checheny syndrome”. Russia will

cope with these obstacles and finally rise as a world power with a market

economy and strong democratic institutions. Its potential is based on its

vast lands full of natural resources, great history, and, most importantly,

the intellectual potential of the Russian people.

Russian territory has historically had a tremendous impact on the

Russian economy, political situation, culture, traditions, and mentality of

Russian people. Vast space has helped Russia many times to defend itself

from other more developed nations. For example, Napoleon froze his army to

death during his invasion to Moscow.

Russia is very rich in natural resources. Almost all the elements of

periodic table are in Russia. Russia is rich in gold, silver, gas and oil,

lumber, aluminum, uranium and many other valuable minerals. These resources

can be very attractive prospects for future investments.

Historically, Russia has been regarded as a major world power. Slavic

peoples settled in Eastern Europe during the early Christian era. Many

converted to Christianity in the ninth and tenth centuries. In 988, Prince

Vladimir declared Christianity the state's official religion. Early in the

13th century, Mongols conquered the Slavs and ruled for 240 years. The

Slavs finally defeated the Mongols in 1480 to regain their sovereignty. In

1547, Ivan the Terrible (1533-84) was the first Russian ruler crowned Czar

of Russia. He expanded Russia's territory, as did Peter the Great (1682-

1724) and Catherine the Great (1762-96). The empire reached from Warsaw in

the west to Vladivostok in the east. In 1814, Russian troops that had

defeated France's Napoleon marched on Paris, and Russia took its place as

one of the most powerful states on earth.

When Czar Nicholas II abdicated during World War 1, Vladimir Lenin,

head of the Bolshevik Party, led the 1917 revolt that brought down the

provisional government and put the Communists in power. Lenin disbanded the

legislature and banned all other political parties. A civil war between

Lenin's Red Army and the White Army lasted until 1921, with Lenin

victorious.

In 1922, the Bolsheviks formed the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics

(USSR) and forcibly incorporated Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Ukraine,

Belarus and Central Asian republic into the union. The unification of

Turkestan and separation of the United Republics gave a birth to the modern

states of Uzbekistan, Kazakstan, Tadjikistan and Turkmenistan. During

Lenin's rule, which ended with his death in 1924, many died as a result of

his radical social restructuring. Under Lenin, a plan to rise the national

economics of the United Republic as well as itself was implemented. If

before Russia had below than 10% literacy level than after World War II due

to reforms started by Lenin almost all population could read and write.

Currently, Russian literacy level equals to 99%.

Lenin was followed by Joseph Stalin, a dictator who forced

industrialization and collective agriculture on the people. Millions died

in labor camps and from starvation. The Nobel Price laureate, Alexandr

Soljenicin, in One Day of Ivan Denisovich characterizes this period as “the

most devastating trial fallen on Russian soul”. While many historians argue

that these sacrifices were necessary to meet the new challenges and make

Russia equal to other developed nations and finally win the Second World

War, Russian’s sacrifices were so large that even now Russia feels the

consequences of that war. Germany invaded the Soviet Union in 1941, and

World War II that was called “Great Patriotic War" in USSR eventually took

more than 26 million Soviet lives. During the WWII the tremendous amount of

industrial plants were relocated to east due to the German occupation of

the Western part of the Soviet Union. Many new industries were developed in

Uzbekistan during WW II such as plane and truck assembling, gas and oil

industries. To supply the increased need for silk and cotton, Ferghana

Canal was constructed.

Nikita Khrushchev, who took over after Stalin's death in 1953,

declared his intentions to build real communism within 20 years. Hard

liners, people opposed to his reforms and policy of peaceful coexistence

with the West, replaced Khrushchev in 1964 with Leonid Brezhnev. Until his

death in 1982, Brezhnev orchestrated the expansion of Soviet influence in

the developing world, ordered the invasion of Afghanistan, and built up the

Soviet nuclear arsenal. This invasion proved to be a terrible mistake. The

consequences of this invasion had a devastating impact on relations with

the west and internal stability. Many millions of people lost their lives

in there. Moreover, the long-term result of this invasion is the continuous

civil war in Afghanistan and as a result instability in the region. When

the next two leaders died in quick succession, a younger man, Mikhail

Gorbachev, rose to power in 1986.

Gorbachev soon introduced the reform concepts of perestroika

(restructuring) and glasnost (openness). Many of his reforms failed and the

economy of the Soviet Union during its last years was deteriorating. The

union quickly unraveled in 1991 after several republics declared

independence. Russia's leader at the time was Boris Yeltsin.

In 1993, after Yeltsin dissolved a combative parliament, his opponents

voted to impeach him and seized the "White House" (parliament building) in

an attempted coup. Following street riots, the showdown turned violent and

militants were forced from the building by tank fire. That victory and the

approval of Yeltsin's new constitution were two highlights of an otherwise

difficult term in office. Communists and ultra-nationalists mounted a

strong challenge to him in the 1996 elections. Despite poor health, Yeltsin

prevailed in the voting to become Russia's first ever freely elected

president. A violent 21-month war with separatists in the Chechnya region

tarnished Yeltsin's image at home and abroad. Finding a solution was

complicated by internal rivalries, rebellious military commanders, and

Yeltsin's failing health. Tens of thousands died before a cease-fire

finally restored peace in August 1996. Russia withdrew its troops in 1997

and Chechens elected their own local leaders. They have de facto control

over internal affairs until 200 1, when the two parties make a final

decision on Chechnya's bid for independence. However, the war was not over.

The invasion of Chechen rebels to the Russian territory, Dagestan made

Vladimir Putin, acting Prime Minister launch a new attack on Chechen

rebels. Putin’s initial war successes brought his a success in the

President’s elections in 2000. After becoming a president Vladimir Putin

started a new wave of restoring the “constitutional order” in Chechnya.

Russian government made several attempts to resolve the difficulties

between Russian and other Republics of CIS. In 1996, Russia and Belarus

agreed to closely linking their societies without actually merging. The

presidents of each nation then signed a union charter in 1997 outlining,

among other things, how Russia and Belarus would cooperate and their ethnic

groups. Also in 1997, Russia made peace with Ukraine, over ownership of the

Soviet Union’s Black Sea naval fleet, helped a peace agreement in

Tadjikistan, participated in international summits, and announced that it

would no longer target nuclear weapons at former Cold War enemies.

Russia played an important role in Commonwealth of Independent States

(CIS). Russia has peacekeeping forces in Tadjiskistan and much helped the

restoration of peace in this republic. Russia helps the Tadjikistanian

government to protect its borders of illegal drug and gun smuggling from

Afghanistan. Russian peace keeping forces made a number of joint training

with the military representatives from the Republics of Central Asia and

NATO. Great Russian history shows that many times Russia had to face the

difficult and challenging times and still was managed to survive as a

nation and was not dissolved by foreign invaders. The problems in Russia

are immese, but Russia will be able to cope with all its problems and will

rise again as a great power on the world stage.

Russia’s population, the crux of Russian reform, of 148 million is

shrinking annually by 0.7 percent. Ethnic Russians form 82 percent of the

entire population. Other groups include Tartars (4 percent), Ukrainians (3

percent), Chuvashes (I percent), Byelorussians (almost I percent),

Udrnurts, Kazaks, Buryats, Tuvinians, Yakutians, Bashkirs, and others. The

capital and largest city is Moscow, with a population of more than 10

million. Other large cities (one to three million residents each) include

St. Petersburg, Novosibirsk, Nizhniy Novgorod, Yekaterinburg, Saratov, and

Samara. Most Russians still live in rural areas, but young people are

moving to the cities. Russia's Human Development Index' value (0.792) ranks

it 67th out of 175 countries. Serious gaps between rich and poor, skilled

and unskilled, and healthy and ill are widening and threatening Russia's

future development. Women earn only one-fifth of the nation's income.

Migration of ethnic Russians from the republics of the former Soviet Union

to Russia increased the total Russian population but not significantly

enough to offset the gap between mortality and birth rates in Russia.

Russian language belongs to Slavic group of languages and is the

official language in Russia. Other Slavic languages are Ukrainian and

Belorussian. It uses the Cyrillic alpha- bet, which consists of 33 letters,

many of them unlike any letter in the Roman (Latin) alphabet. Non-Russians

also usually speak Russian, especially in urban areas. Rural minorities

more often speak their own languages at home or within For example, Tartars

speak Tartar, Chuvashes speak Chuvash, and Udmurts speak Udmurt. These

individual languages are only taught at schools in areas where the ethnic

group is prominent. Ethnic Russians are not required to learn other local

languages, but students are increasingly studying foreign languages

(especially English, French, German, and Spanish). In Soviet Union Russian

language was main language to connect Republics of the former Soviet Union

to each other and establish the united territorial- economic complex. As a

result Russian is widely spoken outside Russia itself. In Uzbekistan people

speak Russian mainly in the cities while Uzbek language is dominated in

rural areas. However, many so-called ethnic Russians or the Russian-

speaking population residing in areas other than Russia feel abandoned by

the break up of the Soviet Union. They tend to be closer to Russia than to

their local states.

The Russian Orthodox Church is the dominant religion. After the

October Revolution (1917), the Communists separated the church from the

state (which were previously tightly bonded) and discouraged all religious

worship. Soviet regime did not tolerate any independent way of thinking and

many religious leaders were killed, jailed or sent to exile. Many churches

were forced to close under Lenin. Mikhail Gorbachev was the first Soviet

leader to officially tolerated and even supported religion. Yeltsin also

embraced the church, which is rapidly regaining its influence. Churches

other than the Russian Orthodox are scarce in rural areas, but nearly every

major religion and many Christian churches have members in cities. Some

Tartars and Bashkirs are Muslim, and some Tuvinians and Buryats are

Buddhist. Despite the years of Communist rulings and oppression the

religion played and important role in the rural areas. More and more

Russian are getting more involved in religion now. Religion is thought to

fill the spiritual gap in peoples souls and help them reevaluate their

moral values.

Russia's long history of totalitarianism have denied its inhabitants

opportunities to make their own decisions, whether ruled by a Czar or the

Communist Party. Personal initiative, personal responsibility, and the

desire to work independently were suppressed by the state, and one was

expected to conform to official opinion and behavior. In the current

climate, Russians are searching for new social values. The resulting

confusion and chaos have led many people to wonder if the old ways were not

better. Many people are tired of the economic instability, rapidly changing

society, characterized by high prices, increasingly violent and rampant

crime, loss of income and a reduced quality of life. However, many

Russians, especially in the younger generation, are eagerly taking

advantage of the open environment. Indeed, Russians are learning the value

of discussion and compromise, personal creativity, and risk-taking. This

long-term process carries hard lessons such as financial loss, political

polarization, economic instability, and social disruption.

Friendship is extremely important in Russia. Russians are warm and

open with trusted friends. They rely on their network of friends in hard

times and will go to great lengths to help friends whenever possible.

Although intensely proud of "Mother Russia" and its achievements, Russians

are a basically pessimistic people and usually do not express much hope for

a better life in the future (except among the youth). Even generally happy

and optimistic Russians might not show their true feelings in public but

rather express frustration with everyday life. A general feeling in Russia

is that the "soul" of Russia is different from that of other countries,

that development cannot take the same course as it has in Europe, for

example. Russians often believe they must find a different path that takes

into account their unique historical heritage and social structure. In

general, Russians desire to be remembered not for the negative aspects of

the Soviet period and its aftermath, but for Russian contributions to world

literature, art, science, technology, and medicine.

Social customs in Russia are very similar to the United States. When

meeting, Russians shake hands firmly and say Zdravstvuyte (Hello), Dobry

Deny (Good day), Dobroye utro (Good morning), Dobry vecher (Good evening),

or Privet (a casual "Hello"). Good friends say "hello" with the more

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