Putin's Way Analysis

As stated earlier, Russia’s economy is largely based on oil. Further, throughout Russia’s existence, its political institutions have strongly remained stable do to their performance legitimacy. Therefore, the rise of oil and therefore competitive authoritarianism are not mutually exclusive. Since Putin’s election, economic growth has averaged 6.7%, however, much of this growth is directly due to rising oil prices since 1998 that have topped over 100 dollars a barrel. Rising oil prices has allowed Russia to eradicate foreign debt, establish massive reserves of hard currency, and create budget surpluses. This has in turn allowed Putin to accumulate massive amounts of wealth as well as improving his performance legitimacy. Arguably, this is a false performance legitimacy. To many in Russia, this is the best the economy has ever been, and it has allowed for Putin to easily consolidate power. Yet, with oil on the decline, Russia has effectively created an economy that can not last into the near future, and only time will tell how far they will end up

Former President Viktor Yankovich made a phone call to Vladimir Putin seeking help. He had called while he was in hiding fleeing to Russia right after that conversation, around a two years ago shortly after over a 100 people were killed in a 48 hour protest. He fled his own country for his own safety. The fact that he fled as president to a neighboring countryRussia, shows just what type of situation this man was left

The president of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, has created and/or passed certain legislations that furthermore limit freedom of citizens. One of them gives almost unlimited power to the government to restrict access to “harmful to children or extremist content.” Additionally, the president has been known for his encouragement of severe punishment of non-violent protests and direct criticism of his power. Some protestors on the Bolotnaya Square have been sentenced to years of imprisonment for protests that should have been punished with administrative fines for minor cases of “public misconduct.” The president’s superior power is not only against ordinary citizens but against some of the wealthiest people. One such case was with Mikhail Khodorkovsky, once wealthiest man in Russia, who was repeatedly sentences for years of imprisonment for new crimes, which seem to have few legal justifications.

Masha Gessen is a Russian journalist who is known for her opposition to current Russian President Vladimir Putin. Gessen gives the reader key details into Putin’s background as a child all the up until Putin becomes President. She delves into how Putin’s secret police work was his claim to fame and how he became recognized by then President Boris Yeltsin. The author’s thesis is that Putin was always a violent person and would do whatever it took to be in charge. The author claims it started from his childhood and that is how he acts now as the Russian leader.

Joseph Stalin and Vladimir Putin are two of the most famous and influential figures of Russian history. Joseph Stalin’s iron fist ruled Russia from the mid-1920’s until his death in 1953. Under Stalin’s totalitarian government, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics played a pivotal role in several major conflicts, including World War II and the Cold War. Stalin’s main goal seemed to be expanding Russia and spreading the influence of communism. Contrastingly, Vladimir Putin has held power from 1999 to the present day. Under his government, Russia became increasingly corrupt with more aspects of a totalitarian government. Nevertheless, the Russian economy has grown at a steady rate of about seven per cent per year and poverty in Russia was halved. His overarching goal seems to be returning Russia to its former Soviet glory. Although definite differences exist between the two leaders, both leaders aim to expand Russia’s borders and power.

When looking at the concept of authority, Vladimir Putin does not have a problem as he is the elected President of a large and influential country—Russia. As such Putin uses his position as a Head of State to try and enhance his authority by calling for unity between the two countries. This op-ed was printed in the foremost newspaper in the U.S. on September 11, 2013. It is on this date that Americans celebrate their resolve and unity. To the global population, this authority would be enough to lend him credibility; but to a skeptical American populous, this could be seen as an outsider taking advantage of a

With the arrival of the second half of the 20th century, came the death of Stalin and a new age for not only Russia but the entirety of the Eastern Block as well. Russia, as always, stood in the face of adversity and, instead of crumbling, began to develop and progress in leaps and bounds. In the span of a mere 50 or so years Russia went from one political, social, and economic standing, (Stalinism) to its exact obverse. Despite the obvious changes a switch like this requires there are still some fundamental and intrinsically Russian sentiments and characteristics that were maintained throughout the change.

We can certainly view modern-day Russia as a world power which has superficially characterized itself as a nation operating more ethically than they were in past years. However, it seems that there are social norms and historically immoral behavior that the Russian government continues to impose upon the population. Over a ten-year span while Stalin was in power, approximately 5,600 people were convicted of bribery (Heinzen, 2007). During that time, there was an emphasis placed on punishing the judiciary members and law enforcement who were corrupting the systems of Russia. Looking back at this period it becomes more clear that the newfound morality among leaders of the country were nothing more than a method of deflection.

In today’s society, there is constant commotion over how power is used and abused. In the real world, there is a big complication with Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, he is supposed to be a helping hand and a person that would help Russia with his power. On the contrary, many people who live in Russia and across the world have recognized the corrupt moves he makes by stealing money from citizens to build his empire and worth. Some find his abuse of power to be justified by how much he has helped Russia while others couldn’t disagree more. This example effectively demonstrates that power use and abuse is solely based on how the individual views it, not a set opinion everyone agrees with.

The influence of Joseph Stalin and the Communist Party left Russia’s economy in shambles; the majority of its citizens were impoverished and destitute. During this time, Vladimir Putin, who would eventually become Russia’s leader, was a young boy. Managing to claw his way into power, Putin displayed a plethora of ambition and thrived in politics. Today, he continues to be one of the most controversial figures in the world. Born to to a poor family in Leningrad, Vladimir Putin managed to ascend above his beginnings with perseverance and dedication, initially finding success in the KGB and eventually becoming one of the most influential and controversial Russian presidents in all of history.

I never truly had a positive or negative view towards Russia, but always heard assumptions on how Russia was “the enemy,” so I would assume that what I heard from the people around me. It wasn’t until last week in class when we saw all these videos about the Russian soul and way of life, that made me think that Russia was not just another place full of gangsters and heartless citizen. This class made me realize that the people are no different from us Americans. In addition, seeing Putin singing to his country made see how he might not be all that bad of a person after all. I never knew that Russia could be so lively and full of spirituality through the term which I learned in class as the Russian soul. I learned that the people see family as the most important part of life and I got to sympathies with the Russian people. Russia may have a troubled past, but what country does not? We have to look at the past, accept what happened; we need to look at the changes and accept that Russia today is nothing like the

I do not think that Russia need to be chastised, I mean they've done some things that remind us that we can't fully trust in them, but I don't really think they need to be chastised. What I do think is that russia is desperately trying to hide their vulnerabilities, Russia faces serious problems in its economy, politics and society. Its population is aging and is expected to contract by 10 percent by 2050. An attempt to use the extraordinary benefits of the commodity boom to modernize the state and its economy failed. Putin has sought to compensate for the vulnerability in his country with aggression abroad.

In Putin’s Kleptocracy: Who Owns Russia?, Karen Dawisha relates Russian President Vladmir Putin’s rise to power. She overarchingly claims that Putin is an authoritarian leader who has obstructed and even reverted Russia’s path of democratization, citing, amongst many factors that enabled his ascension, his “interlocking web of personal connections in which he was the linchpin” (100), money-laundering to tax havens and personal projects, and the complicity of the West. With copious research, journalistic interviews, legal documents, and even sporadic informational diagrams, it is evident why her book is so popular amongst scholars and history enthusiasts. Unfortunately however, in spite of the grand yet oftentimes substantiated claims she generates, a more subtle yet noteworthy assumption is made: that the state is a protector, as Olson proffered. She employs this theoretical underpinning from the beginning, though is not representative of Putin’s actual authoritarian regime.

Over the last century, Russia has been led by two of its most dominant and imperious leaders: Joseph Stalin and Vladimir Putin. Although similar in several ways, these two leaders have many differences as well.

Reforms and ethnic problems helped the Soviet Union collapse in 1991. What was the next move to help Russia be a major power in the world? Boris Yeltsin led Russia through most of the decade promoting something known as democracy and better living conditions than the Soviet Union. There were some failures along with success, however once Yeltsin was too old for the job he found a successor. Hence, Yeltsin passed the presidency on to Putin; the promotion of democracy was severely limited by an authoritarian leader wanting more power.