Russia And The Russian 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.

Russian inability to recognize changing tactics and weapons of modern warfare is inexcusable but sadly explainable. Because the Czar tended to centralize power and surround himself with "yes men," he missed the good advice of those in his country who could have helped guide Russia into war. Some of these choices can also be blamed on misconceptions of Russian capabilities, and of its military identity. The military reforms that were not completely halted by inept leaders were otherwise thwarted by the lack of details with which an army mobilizes and fights. Details were not an important aspect for Russian pre-war strategy or estimations.

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.

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 Soviet Union’s staggering World War II death toll of over 20 million spurred them to strengthen their military after the war (Doc B). By 1980, the Soviet Union spent a much higher percentage of its GNP on the military than the United States did (Doc D). The USSR, even passed the USA in areas such as manpower and nuclear weapons capacity (Doc D). The Soviet technical prowess was also boosted when in 1957 they launched the first satellite into space (Doc F). The Soviet Union’s military strength should be emphasized because it allowed them to extend their influence into Eastern Europe (Doc A) and compete with the US as one of the world’s two

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

To this day Russia remains to be one of the bigger threats to our military with about 1.5 million personnel in their armed forces combined. This number includes ground forces, navel force, air force and ada forces. They remain one of the stronger forces due to their allotments to their ministry of defense with over 19 billion yearly in maintenance and salary of their forces. The country covers more than 17 million square kilometers with 10 percent of that being swamp lands and 45 percent being Forrest. Still with unemployment rates right around 8 percent Russia remains self-sufficient from a fuel and energy standpoint with their production of coal, natural gas, oil fuels. Coal makes up more than 18 percent of their main electric needs for their country. Transportation in the country continue to be a ever growing thing with over 900 thousand kilometers of roadways, eighty thousand kilometers of railways and over twenty five hundred airports in the country. With many religions as expected with such a big country the predominate on considers themselves as Russian orthodox which makes up about 75 percent, 19 percent consider themselves to be Muslim and 7 percent fall under other.

While the United States Army is dedicated to promoting peace, stability and security throughout the world, there are challenges that are necessary to address. Russia, North Korea, China, Iran, the rising of non state actors in the Middle East, and future strategic campaigns all present issues that face the Army. Coupled with budget sequestration, these challenges are amplified.

Between 1900-1960 CE, Russia/Soviet Union had undergone major developments in which their political ideologies progressed from an absolute monarchy to communism. Another major development in Russia was the change in the status of religion as the power of religion progressively decreased as communism arose. Although Russia’s political ideologies and the status of religion has changed, the forms of governance in Russia generally remained the same. Russia at the time were faced with millions of casualties from both World War I and World War II, this caused their government to be in turmoil which then lead to the major changes in the Soviet Union.

Today, Russia is one of the world's great powers Russia is the seventh largest economy in the world by GDP, sixth in terms of purchasing power, and third in terms of military budget. Russia is one of the only five recognized nuclear weapons countries in the world, and having the largest arsenal of weapons of mass destruction. Russia is a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council. It is also a member of the Group of Eight, the Group of Twenty, the Council of Europe, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. However, to be with this power was not an easy for Russia which was the Soviet Union. Russia has a long of history which is full

Even though Russia wasn’t founded until 25 December 1991, its history traces back to the 9th century. During this period, the first signs of the country’s infrastructure began. Creation of trade routes enabled empires being supplied, while leading to the country’s growth. When the 10th century hit, we got the first mention of Moscow. At the time, Moscow was a small settlement that would soon become the pre-eminent city in Russia (A Brief History of Russia). By the 15th century, Moscow became the capital of, which consequently became, Russia. Moreover, in the centuries that would follow, Russia would battle through many wars, variety of leaders who wanted to take the country in different directions, weak infrastructure, communism, and failures of economic growth.

The way a country succeeds or fails can be determined on how well a culture adapts to adversity and overcomes situations as a whole. If Russia were to be described in one word, that would be red. Red for the millions of Soldiers and civilians killed in World War II in the fight against Nazi Germany. Also red is the color most commonly associated with communism, “the color red to symbolize the blood of the workers, and the red flag of the Soviet Union, with its gold-colored hammer and sickle”. In 1991 the former Soviet Union was voted out of office and the Russian Federation was born. The Federation resembled a Western political attitude,

When discussing Russia’s demographics, it is important to note that it is the largest country in the world, ranging across 17.1 million square kilometers. Russia thus has many different ethnic groups, languages, and religions. Russia’s reported population from 2017 is 143.9 million which includes over 170 ethnic groups designating as their nationalities. Russia’s major ethnic groups are Russian and Tatar with their languages being the top two as well. As for religion, Russians are mostly Russian Orthodox or Muslim, and the 2% are other Christians. To top it all off, “Russia has one of the best mass-education systems in the world, producing a literacy rate of 98%” (higher than most Western European countries) (O’Connor), consisting of primary school, secondary school, and higher education.

The Russia of today is not that of the past; Russia throughout history has encountered countless changes in regards to the type of governmental powers they have possessed. Previously, Russia was known as the Russian Empire, being categorized as an unlimited government in which leaders have all the power. “Alexander the Terrible” is considered the original Czar—emperor of Russia; the ruling of Czars ended during the Russian Revolution which followed with the interaction in World War I. Thus, leading to the exoneration of Nicholas II in 1917. Following the involvement of World War I, what was known as the Russian Empire evolved into the Bolshevik party which finally became the Soviet Union. Vladimir Lenin was the leader of this transition

Russia 's history began with that of the East Slavs, whom only emerged as their own distinct group in Europe somewhere between the 3rd and 8th centuries AD. Founded and ruled by a Varangian warrior and his descendants, the medieval state