New Political Philosophy for Russia Essay

Throughout its long history, Russia has been trapped in a continuous cycle of authoritarian regimes; only interrupted briefly with periods of tumultuous democratic transitions that were plagued by poor bureaucracy and weak institutions. Therefore, time and time again, Russia has turned towards authoritarianism. In the late 1900’s to early 2000’s, Russia again saw the fall of democracy coincide with the rise of a competitive authoritarian regime. This rise of competitive authoritarianism in Russia in the late 1900’s to early 2000’s was largely the result of the resource curse which granted Putin’s Administration false economic performance legitimacy. This in turn reinvigorated past strongman ideals, while at the same time solidified negative

The last Tsar Nicholas II ascended the throne in 1894 and was faced with a country that was trying to free itself from its autocratic regime. The serfs had recently been emancipated, the industry and economy was just starting to develop and opposition to the Tsar was building up. Russia was still behind Europe in terms of the political regime, the social conditions and the economy. Nicholas II who was a weak and very influenced by his mother and his wife had to deal with Russia’s troubles during his reign. In order to ascertain how successfully Russia dealt with its problems by 1914, this essay will examine the October Manifesto and the split of the opposition, how the Tsar became more reactionary after the 1905 revolution, Stolypin’s

Russia, as a country, has had a long and proud history. However, for a small time starting in 1917, things started to take a turn for the worse. There was widespread famine, disease, and killing by the instituted government. There was also no Russia. Instead, there was the glorious United Soviet Socialist Republics, or the USSR. This new country did not come around peacefully, but instead under the 1917 Russian Revolution and the revolting communist Bolsheviks. The Russian people were not in a better condition after the Russian revolution due to Stalin’s leadership of his country; the reason being the GULAGs that Stalin was sending his people to, the communes that the peasants were sent to, and the disastrous effects of his five year plans.

The government of the modern day Russian Federation must be traced back to the early 20th century in order to understand its current posture. In 1917, tired of the sequestering limits of a Tsarist system, a small revolutionary group called the Bolshevik Party gained control of Russia . The Bolshevik Party, led by Lenin and inspired by Marxist ideology, attempted to establish a Constitute Assembly. However, a post- revolutionary environment and an unsupportive public forced Lenin to abolish rival political parties and establish a dictatorship to retain The Bolshevik Party’s power. In 1919, the

The foreign policies of Russia also compliments in many ways its domestic policies, both in the apparent want for dominance and security in the focal point on sovereignty. These aims lead to an importance on bringing back Russia’s international status and removing positions of power that Western states have had in Russia

The political and economic liberalization of Gorbachev’s glasnost and perestroika allowed “ethnic nationalism” to emerge as “a great mobilizing power…[while] the granting every Soviet ethno-nation its own state was viewed as natural, desirable, and democratic” in the eyes radical democrats in Moscow at the

In the past five hundred years in Russia, there have been more not so great rulers compared to the superior rulers. However, in 1762, a great ruler came to power and began changing Russia for the better, her name was Catherine the second. Born a German providence and brought to Russia by the order of Elizabeth I. She [Catherine] later gained the throne after a coup d’état and from there on out Russia was underway become more of the enlightened state. The ways that it became enlightened was through the changes in the internal government, foreign affairs with the western area of Europe and added an influx of culture into the backward country. In order for the county to be powerful in the rest of the world’s eyes, it needed to start somewhere

The Soviet Union hope to attain the “New Soviet Man”, but in their attempts only made their state situation much more dreadful by causing severe fragmentation within several ethnic groups, politics, as well as the army. This cast upon the Soviets a very bad image, which when the Soviet Union applied more tension, made their situation only worse. The Soviet Union became such a fragmented Union that Gorbachev could no longer control the power of the population and was forced to resign, and hence the fall of the Soviet Union. Political and Ethnic fragmentation contributed to the disintegration of the Soviet Union by causing division in leadership, “This division within the Soviet leadership weakened its ability to respond to centrifugal forces and contributed to the central authorities erratic response to them”(Hunter et.al, 212), as well as prove that the “New Soviet Man” was socially untenable, “The notion that nationalities would willingly give up their cultural identities for the common good, and that a unique soviet man would emerge- was socially untenable.”(Xenakis,

The Russian Empire was a vast state that ruled over many different nationalities. All people in Russia had to face a highly authoritarian regime, the Tsarist Autocracy. The most crucial of the defining features of the Tsarist Autocracy was the fact that the ruler, the Tsar, had an absolute power which was said to be derived from God and knew no constitutional limits. This had very deep political and legal implications: decrees of the Tsar were considered laws, and with such authority there was no need for any political system. Below the Tsar existed his government and a vast bureaucracy which was administering the state affairs. Lack of control and accountability generated high corruption in the public life of Imperial Russia. Another characteristic of the regime was the absence of political freedoms and civil rights, censorship and strong repression of opposition with a strong role of the secret police which in turn made Russia a police state.

From its humble beginnings as a united east Slavic state in 882, to its profound global impact in the 21st century, Russia has always been ground-breaking. Russian political, economic, and social thought has historically been prized as both revolutionary and progressive. It wasn’t until the 19th century that this thought gave rise to an actual revolutionary movement. From Alexander Radishchev (1749-1802) to Michael Bakunin (1814-1876), Russian thought and action during this period took on a new façade. During this time, movements of dissent, change, and advocacy sprouted up throughout the nation. This period of revolutionary thought and activity was caused primarily by an overbearing structure of government, and the suppression of ‘common people’.

In context of the Russian revolution, Historians like Adam Ulam and Richard Pipes have a shared viewpoint that the 1917 October Revolution was a construct of Russia’s unstable governance. Thus, it is prudent to discuss the instability of political rule in Russia as an instigator for Progressivism in Russia which lead to aggression from the public.

Ideologies made a significant amount of contribution to the making of modern Russia. At the

Under Mikhail Gorbachev the Soviet Union underwent massive social, political and economic reform that drifted away from communist ideology and this ultimately lead to the collapse of the Soviet Union and failure of communism in Eastern Europe. This essay will focus on how the Perestroika reform and Glasnost policy programs as well as other external and internal pressures contributed to the failure of communism under Gorbachev. The aim of the Perestroika and Glasnost reforms was to restructure and strengthen the Soviet political and economic system and provide more freedom and democracy within the Soviet Union while strengthening Communism. However, these changes had achieved exactly what they aimed to prevent when they were first elaborated and led to the failure of communism and collapse of the Soviet Union. While focusing on the policies this essay will also focus on the major increase in nationalism that occurred in the Soviet Republics as a result of the Glasnost. External pressure from the western world was also a factor and the role that the United States and the Ronald Reagan administration played in the downfall of communism under Gorbachev will be examined. The essay will also discuss how the disintegration of Yugoslavia and the 1991 Coup d’état led to the failure of the policies and failure of communism.

The catastrophes of the past are the foundation of the future, events that occurred in the past cause people to envision a “better life” of not only for themselves but a society as a whole. By envisioning a better future individual rose up, advocated ideas, and policies that they believed would help in advancing their countries. For the purpose of this course, let us discuss the uprising of the Russian government and the European Council; both as single entities have their own goals, but collectively they seek to benefit their country(‘s) and promote prosperity, but through history and the changes of power has that aim been reached? Or if it is already has reached it, will these forms of government fail?

Russia’s Return as a Superpower. There are concerns that Russia may once again “reassert itself militarily” (Wood 7). After the original fall of communism in 1991, Russia seemed to be on a path to democracy. Currently the notion of a democratic Russia seems to be fading as Russia “has been centralizing more and more power in the Kremlin” (Putin 2). Regional governors, who were once elected by the people, are now being appointed by Moscow.