Russian Weaknesses

Uniteds States’ foreign relations with Russia have been shaky even after the fall of the USSR in 1991, most notably because Russian leaders have never been very supportive of the United States’ global democratic influence. However, with the collapse of the Soviet economy, Russia realized that democratic economic policies were probably the only path to a successful and thriving country. But with recent U.S. intervention in Russian foreign policy over the annexation of Crimea and the unstable Ukrainian conflicts, relations with Russia have become especially hostile. Therefore the U.S. should take a look at the implications of losing stable relations with Russia (as it has in the past few years) and instead strengthen these relations, to

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

Instead of becoming closer to Russia, the United States should make sure that Russia does not threaten their power, and keep them in constant military check.

Russia, the largest nation in the world according to geographic terms is a country located in northern Asia, bordered by fourteen other countries (Kurian, 1), is one of the most powerful countries in the world. Besides military power, how did it get that way? The answer is simply, geography. Many people overlook the fact that geography has greatly influenced Russia’s power.

Soviet Union encouraged their citizens and officials to discuss both the strengths and the weaknesses openly. This approach was extended largely, including reports of official corruption, sloppy factory work, protests against government policy, and arts. Besides, religious activities were once again. And in the economy, partial liberalization was pursued, but it did not succeed. In the politic, reforms were equally revolutionary; the principle of two-candidate elections was introduced while previously, voters had been presented with only one choice. Also, Gorbachev legalized the formation of other political parties in 1990. In fact, he tried to appease the conservative forces and to accommodate the liberal forces, especially those in the Soviet

The 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union signified an end to Russia’s control over its Middle Eastern Empire. Many of its states seceded and founded new nations and Russia lost significant power over the region. The new Russian Federation, in an effort to reestablish Soviet supremacy, has launched a neo-imperialistic campaign to once again have political, economic and security control over the area today known as the Caucasus. Principally, Russia wants to have political control over the area consisting of the lands of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Georgia and Chechnya as well as the Caspian Sea. Furthermore, it is an objective to reap profit from this resource-rich area to stabilize Russia’s economy. Additionally, Russia wants to

Russia’s energy security depends largely on the global demand and international energy market price. Thus, Russian energy security is vulnerable to market forces and benefits from economic stability, particularly that of the European countries, with whom Russia conducts the majority of its energy trade. Let us see the history trend of Russia’s energy trade during the financial crisis.

The war highlighted and showed the weakness of the Russian military and decreased nationalism within the country. According to research from Yoji Koda’s Naval War College Review, the “Russian government sent a fleet to Port Arthur and Taliesin” which was successful in 1898, but later led to Russia surrendering the naval base (Port Arthur) in Northern China in January 1905. They had kept possession of this base since prior to the war, and the lost of it shows a military defeat leading to national humiliation. Another event that showed weakness in the military was the Battle of Tsushima in May 1905, which was one of Russia’s great losses as they sailed from Europe to Far East with 35 warships, only to get crushed by the Japanese leaving 25

The approach to uncovering the evidence of geopolitics in Eurasia in regards to energy and security includes the effects of western influence on communication through negations. These actions take place as a result of energy trends, international politics, and how they are interconnected through energy uses that affect the structure of international systems, which are some of the “theoretical and empirical

Russia is having a tough time with their geography. With all the open plains, countries can invade with ease. As if that isn’t enough, they also have trouble with access to warm-water ports. Since they are de facto landlocked, with most of the water north of them frozen year-round, trading isn’t as easy as it is with the United States. If they have no warm-water ports, then trading would be a disaster and the economy would eventually fail. Although they do have a few warm-water ports, their largest port on the Pacific Ocean, Vladivostok, is dominated by the Japanese, preventing the Russian fleet from operating as a global-power. While the geography may be inviting for invaders, its vastness is also an advantage. By the time an invader,

For over 40 years, Europe has been relying on Russia for the importation of energy, such as oil.5 One of Russia’s major gas company, Gazprom, is one of the world’s largest gas distributing companies, causing many countries to become dependent on the Russian company for gas. In 2015 alone, Gazprom exported around 158 billion cubic meters of gas to Europe, and of those European countries to have received gas, Germany was the highest, with an import of 45.31 billion cubic meters of Gazprom gas. Countries in the Baltic region and countries in south eastern Europe are usually very dependent on Russian gas. The European Union is Russia’s most involved trading partner, especially when it comes in terms of oil. About 41% of Russia’s exports are sent to EU countries.7 According to Gazprom’s statistics, Western European countries make up 82% of Gazprom’s exports, and Central European countries make up 18% of their exports.3 These numbers are significant because it displays Europe’s major dependence on Russian oil, which is a major problem, because of Russia’s ability to deprive Europe of energy at any given time, as shown from 2006 to 2009, when Russia cut off Ukraine 's gas line due to disputes regarding gas prices.23 If Russia decides to shut off gas to a region, it can lead to people being without ways to heat their homes or cook their food, leaving a big liability on the people. Europe’s vulnerability to these gas shortages gives Russian leverage over many EU countries who heavily

It continues with explaining Gazprom’s three divided strategy in the east European member states. Second, the underlying economic theory will be explained and the impact discussed. To conclude, a short summary will be

With 53% of the European Union’s energy being imported in 2013, it is not a surprise that the European Union is continuously seeking alternative energy methods to help gain energy independence. If not complete independence, they hope to lower their reliance on Russia who to frequently uses its energy dominance as a foreign policy weapon. Russian and Ukrainian disputes in 2006, 2009, and 2014 have led to critical gas shortages across the European Union and a public opinion that Russian natural gas is unreliable (1). The Czech Republic has been one of the many member states who has suffered from these supply shortfalls. These crises along with other difficulties of importing a majority of their energy supply has propelled the Czech Republic

countries. In a Europe of 35 countries, Russian gas accounted for nearly 40% of total

The European Union, as a union of sovereign states, and the Russian Federation, as the biggest state worldwide, are two major key players in past and current world affairs. Therefore their cooperation is very important to maintain the balance which is needed for a favorable development of their societies. Unfortunately, the way to a successful cooperation is paved with many obstacles which are not easy to overcome for these two superpowers. Several attempts were made to improve the cooperation between the Russian Federation and the European Union, e.g. agreements were signed and summits were held, but still many conflicts stay unaddressed.