Russia Geography

Though it may sound heartless and selfish, the needs and aims of countries usually are the primary factor controlling their foreign relations. During the period of the czars, from 1547 to 1917, Russia’s need for land and modernization shaped its relationships with Western Europe and the Ottoman Empire, causing Russia’s leaders to respect and imitate Western Europe while competing with the European powers to fill the power vacuum of the failing Ottoman Empire.

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.

From its vast mountains to its extending rivers, Russia has been blessed with a variety of geographical features which have aided its preeminence in history. These features have immensely affected how Russia developed throughout the years. Russia is known to be the largest country in the world: it stretches about six thousand miles across Northern Asia and Eastern Europe. Because of its vast size and abundance of land, Russia has various different geographical features. It consists of the Eurasian steppes, the Dnieper, Neva, and Volga Rivers, and the Ural Mountains (Vodovozov). These geographic features have served as natural barriers, physical boundaries, and for agricultural purposes.

Russia has built a strong, but stagnating economy on several natural resources to include the refinery and export of natural gas and oil. According to the Jim Picht (2014) exportation of natural gas and oil to Eastern Europe account for 70 percent of Russia’s exports and 53 percent of the government’s revenue. Along with exporting oil to Eastern Europe, Russia also exports too many countries to include China and Belarus. Europe fueled majority by Russian supplied natural gas and oil, the dependency of Europe’s need for this natural resource is the reason Russia’s economy is so strong. In 2014, when Russia decided to invade the neighboring country of Ukraine has led Europe to begin searching for other suppliers of their natural resources. If Europe finds other countries to supply the natural resources

This week’s reading focused on the changes that took place in the Russian Federation after the presidency of George W. Bush. In class and previous readings, we got a teaser about how the start of the Obama administration in 2008 allowed for a “reset” in relations between the United States and Russia. This second portion of Elkin’s Russia Turns the Page: Historic Sketches of the End of the Post-Soviet Period: A History of the New Russia in 2007-2014. Sheds light on the events that are currently some of the most pressing issues for both nations. In addition, Elkin’s ability to offer an “insider” perspective on some of the varying power dynamics within the Russian Federation made for a very unique read.

Through the research articles by Grigas and Feklyunina respectfully, this unsuccessful streak in Russia’s attempts for soft power were discussed as well as its reversion to hard power to attempt to redrive fear in the global space. Beginning with Grigas’ piece, the unsuccessful attempts of Russia in constraining the independence of the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania in order to undermine their political, economic and civilizational choices were discussed and focussed in what caused this turn. (Grigas, 2012) While Russia still retains its military might, economic strength and a culture to inspire the denizens to obey; they still largely found it difficult to coerce the Baltic people who once obeyed their commands as the USSR. (Grigas, 2012) Grigas believes in contrast to the United States not wishing to live in the past as a global enforcer after the Cold War concluded, Russia had desired to regain the strength it had as the USSR, yet it's living in the past may have diluted its influence as well. Through Feklyunina’s piece, this desire of recreating its once ‘Russian world’ philosophy of recreating the strengths of the USSR in order to recreate the common identity. (Feklyunina, 2015)

For my book review I have evaluated and read “Putin’s Wars: The Rise of Russia’s New Imperialism” by Marcel H. Van Herpen, published by Rowman & Littlefield. The book consists of three parts: Part 1 “Russia and the Curse of Empire” (chapters 1-5), Part 2 “The Internal War” (chapters 6-9), and Part 3 “The Wheels of War” (chapters 10-18). In writing this review I wish to inform readers about the rise of Russia’s new imperialism. Russia’s empire had not been was not built overseas like other empires, instead it was considered contiguous and continental. The thesis of this book is that unlike in Western Europe, where the process of decolonization was not the same as Russia.

For many years, the United States and Russia have not been the greatest of friends. There have been short periods of time of understanding and communication between the two countries, however, relations between the two countries today are just as strained as they were during the Cold War. Why do these two great countries both with rich historical and cultural backgrounds have such a deep rooted mistrust in one another? The answer lies in the fundamental misunderstanding of each others’ cultures and the lack of people who understand the similarities and differences of both sides. Russia and the United States have a long mutual history of skepticism towards one another.

It is Russia’s belief that annexations of any kind, under any circumstances, are evil. By definition, annexation is the forcible act of retaining a weaker nation by an oppressive, stronger nation. In annexation, the will of the people in the annexed nation is wholly ignored; no free vote is used to determine whether the people wish to be part of the foreign state or not. This is a wholly undemocratic practice and is representative of capitalist greed, completely separate from the workers’ sense of justice (“Report on

There are several factors in Russia’s economy that may contributed to many trade opportunities being created for the United States. The US will likely be greatly affected by any shifts in the demands of Russian consumers along with any import needs the country has to maintain its society and infrastructure. One of the key considerations for examining Russia’s resource needs must be the fact that the US’s core competency as an energy producer cannot be leveraged in this scenario due to Russia’s own dominance as a producer of oil (Lavrov, 2013). The loss of the strength of the Russian ruble has caused Russia to experience a trade deficit, which has contributed to an increase in the demand for imports (Beck, Kamps, & Mileva, 2007).

This paper will argue that the Russian leader Vladimir Putin has political ideals and strategies that closely mirror those of previous troublesome and infamous historical figures that lead their different countries and factions to territorial expansions, and the inevitable fall of themselves as leaders, dictators and tyrants. Though Putin is his own man and is able to follow his own path there are many similarities between his actions and the actions of two different leaders that are infamous for different reasons, the leaders that he shows the most similarities to are Napoleon Bonaparte and Adolf Hitler. I will be talking about the military expansion of the three men, political goals towards their own countries, political views of other countries and how other countries viewed at the time, and how this all is viewed in the different paradigms of international relations.

The Russian Federation has been seen as one of the world’s greatest Super Powers; it has been for well over a century. However, is Russia still considered the once great powerful nation that it once was? Russia has one of the largest militaries in the world; however, prior to 2009 it was using weapons that were decades old. Russia’s economy suffered a dramatic hit due to a recession that it is slowly exiting out of. The unwavering support from its allies has gradually dwindled due to recent actions Russia’s key leaders have taken; however, there have been some key improvements over the last few years that prove Russia may be moving towards a brighter future. These few factors weigh into the debate and each play a vital role into the

In the last ten years, Russia has become: the largest oil producer, the second largest natural gas distributor and the third highest steel exporter in the world. Moreover, the country has enormous untapped reserves of: oil, natural gas, coal, iron ore and cooper. However, the economic base is split between producers that are focused on exporting certain products abroad. While the rest of the manufacturing sector, is concentrated in domestic markets (which is not as competitive). As a result, the Russian

In regards to Russia 's President, Vladimir Putin, the theoretical perspective he best embodies is realism. According to the theory of realism, the states believe that the international system is anarchical and they believe only in their own self-interest and survival. The needed power in order to secure this belief, comes in representation through great military strength. Time and time again, Russia has proven this statement, a more prior historical event revolves around their interest in the Northern Sea Route in the Artic. According to the article on Aljazeera, Russia’s Artic Opportunity, “new Russian naval doctrine calls for Russia to increase its maritime presence in the Arctic”. Establishing this military presence in the region allows for multiple opportunities that will benefit Russia. Economically, the region is full of untapped resources, ranging from minerals and fish, but also encompasses undiscovered oil and natural gas. Known to most, Russia is almost the sole dependence of energy for Europe through these resources. If Russia were to tap into these extra resources, it will just increase its hold on European reliance to Russia.

Putin’s foreign and defence policy indicates that Russia is aiming to become the regional power amongst its geopolitical neighbours and aims to accumulate more of the relative power it had lost since the decline of the Soviet Union. Kuchins and Zevelev state that one of the prime explanations for Russia’s actions is the long-standing, historical belief within the states national identity that Russia is a Great Power and its foreign policy reflects ambitions of working to regain as much of its lost power as possible to maintain this belief. This is evident through Russia’s strategic alliances and relationships it is fostering within the Eurasian continent. Putin has recently arranged many strategic ties to China, the only country with rivalling power to that of the US at this present moment. This will help to maintain Russia’s economic, energy, technological, military and geopolitical interests in the face of the sanctions and threats imposed by the US and NATO and rally strength within its regional sphere. Russia signed a $400 billion deal to export its gas to China over a thirty year period. From a realist perspective, this deal was the beneficial approach to overcoming sanctions set forth by the West that without acting on would work against any relative economic gain for