Russia, A Powerful And Diverse Culture

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 December of 1991 marked the end of the Soviet Union—and with it, an entire era. Like the February Revolution of 1917 that ended tsardom, the events leading up to August 1991 took place in rapid succession, with both spontaneity and, to some degree, retrospective inevitability. To understand the demise of Soviet Union is to understand the communist party-state system itself. Although the particular happenings of the Gorbachev years undoubtedly accelerated its ruin, there existed fundamental flaws within the Soviet system that would be had been proven ultimately fatal. The USSR became a past chapter of history because it was impossible to significantly reform the administrative

The Soviet Union, which was once a world superpower in the 19th century saw itself in chaos going into the 20th century. These chaoses were marked by the new ideas brought in by the new leaders who had emerged eventually into power. Almost every aspect of the Soviet Union was crumbling at this period both politically and socially, as well as the economy. There were underlying reasons for the collapse of communism in the Soviet Union and eventually Eastern Europe. The economy is the most significant aspect of every government. The soviet economy was highly centralized with a “command economy” (p.1. fsmitha.com), which had been broken down due to its complexity and centrally controlled with corruption involved in it. A strong government

One country is comparable to the United States of America in terms of world power and prominence. Russia makes their name known beginning in World War 2 (WW2), later in the Korean War, Cold War, and today’s proxy war in the Syria. Russia’s culture, environment, politics, military, and economy do not just make Russia a regional powerhouse, but slowly becoming a region of influential power to surrounding countries with the end state of a global superpower. All the factors that make Russia the powerhouse that it is slowly becoming, highlights the impressive trend that supersedes the previous Soviet Union and past leaders.

Russia has many cultural characteristics that have shaped the country we know today. A nation 's culture can define its actions and make them more predictable as a state on the international level. Understanding a nation’s culture gives great insight into the motives and reasoning behind their aggression or acts of force. Factors such as geography, weather, political landscape, military, and key infrastructure provide a clear understanding of Russian culture and how it has shaped the nation over the past century.

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 intentions for the different social structures seemed to be benevolent, allowing all people to be equal, but once the institution had been established the malevolent truths of monotony became present. The Russian communism system, produced by Karl Marx’s “The Communist Manifesto,” depicts this scenario very clearly, from Russia’s recent history. The clumped masses of similar people, all providing similar products and services, were thought to allow the very upper two-hundredths percent of the population to go on with their lives as normally as possible, which in theory would allow the bottom ninety-nine percent of the population to enjoy the same luxuries as well. However, this reality, as seen from history, never occurred due to the simple fact that the Russian people had to obey to tyrannical laws that suppressed or razed any

The Russian state has been characterized by its strong heritage of powerful, autocratic leadership. This domination by small ruling elite has been seen throughout Russia's history and has transferred into its economic history. Throughout the Russian czarist period, to the legacy of seventy years of communism; Russia has been a country marked by strong central state planning, a strict command economy and an overall weak market infrastructure (Goldman, 2003). Self-interest, manipulation and corruption have all been present in the Russian economy, and have greatly helped the few as opposed to the many. To this day, Russia still struggles with creating a competitive and fair market.

Russia is the largest country in the world with a population of 145.3 million people (Bradford, n.d). Its culture is one that has changed with time but has kept its traditions and values, the country is one of several others that has experienced both a communist and a capitalist society. Russian culture puts a lot of emphasis in family and friends (Bradford, n.d). During communist Russia friends and family had to help each other in order to survive the extreme poverty that they had to go through, during those times collectivism was developed and eventually passed to younger generations (Bradford, n.d). While is true that Russia today is very different from the days in which Communism was present people tend to follow the tradition of their parent and grandparents.

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.

Russia under Stalin was a country that had just undergone extensive social and political change in an abrupt and intense manner, going from one extreme of governance – absolute monarchy - to another, communism. This violent shift in Russia’s societal infrastructure had created a major lack of movement and evolution in Russian industry, and Russia was lagging behind the rest of Europe in manners of trading, production and technology. Lenin had fostered a dream of having the entirety of Russia lit up by electricity and modern means of communication in ten years. However, this was not just a dream of an advanced society: Lenin was sure that without this lurch forward to meet and contend with the competition of other countries, they would not last, and this was echoed by Stalin when he came into power; “We are fifty of a hundred years behind the advanced countries. We must make good this lag in ten years. Either we accomplish this or we will be crushed.” After Lenin’s death, Stalin as the figurehead of communism and leadership in Russia now faced meet the promises of an untested system – a free, functioning Russia as spearhead of the communist movement.

Although it may seem as if Russia’s decline happened overnight, a detailed timeline of Russia’s history would prove quite the opposite. Despite Russia’s long history with serfdom and poverty,

Oligarchy as it is known in Aristotle’s politics; is a government run by a small group of people, ‘elites’. However, the oligarchy which this essay addresses is currently referred to in Russia as “a very wealthy and politically well-connected businessman...one who is the main owner of a conglomerate of enterprises and has close ties with the president” (Aslund and Dabrowski, 2007; 144). In the 1990s Russia’s economic reforms are said to have created the rise of a small group of oligarchs who gained an overwhelming amount of power and control. By 1997, this small group of previously unknown businessmen and bankers, often with gangster ties, had acquired control of many of the key parts of the Russian economy. Why did they emerge? It is argued by David Satter that three processes facilitated the emergence of the oligarchs. The first was hyperinflation and the social, economic and political consequences. The second was the process of privatisation, and finally the third was criminalisation (Satter, 2003). However, were these powerful oligarchs just a phase during the transition from Soviet to Post-Soviet Russia? Even with Putin’s efforts and declaration to distance the oligarchs from politics and power, and start a war against them exemplified by the Khodorkovsky affair, are oligarchs still significantly powerful in contemporary Russia? What is the role they play in Russia? It seems that the power of those original oligarchs of the 1990s has decreased or been concealed in

There are several aspects of Russian society that can threaten businesses operating in this nation. Russian participation in the European Social Survey determined they are individuals characterized by a high degree of caution and more pronounced need to be protected by a strong state (Magun & Rudnev, 2010). The strong state applies to multiple facets of Russian society that leads to concerns about property rights and the protection of other assets. There is pervasive government intrusion into business that affects leaders of Russian companies. Economic advisors warned of a danger to economic growth comes from creation of state corporations with a difficulty facing business leaders being uncertainties from a powerful, hostile Russian government (McCarthy, Puffer, May, Ledgerwood, & Stewart, 2008). In certain areas the state hinders economic

Following the fall of communism, Russia has undergone a turbulent several decades. What was at one time an economic powerhouse stumbled and, at times, was on the verge of total collapse. For a multitude of reasons, the traditional democratic system seemed to be failing in Russia. Whether this is because of a lack of understanding of the democratic system by the Russian general populace or an unwillingness to adhere to this new type of government and economy is still hotly contested. Regardless, it cannot be disputed that the advent of Vladimir Putin’s rise to power transformed an “imperfect, unruly, and largely unconsolidated democracy” (Stoner-Weiss 316) back into a nation that possessed a larger portion of the power the Soviet Union once held. Thus it can be deduced that Putin’s “strongman” position as both Prime Minister and President of Russia is the primary reason that Russia’s semi-presidential system failed whereas France’s has succeeded.