Russia Under The Presidency Of Vladimir Putin
The fall of the USSR in the year 1991 marked an end for the divisions of the Cold War. US had won the war and was handed the reins of the world. US was going to be the unifying force around which the world existed. Under pressure from the world, Russia adopted liberalisation policies under the leadership of Boris Yeltsin. The time was of turmoil and upheaval. Economic crisis and inability to deal with foreign crisis be it curbing the threat of nationalism from the Chechen rebels. Yeltsin was ineffective to figure out what position Russia should take in the constant civil wars in the Balkan region. One person who rose to prominence during this period of upheaval was Vladimir Putin. Putin had worked with the KGB in East Germany and had seen the fall of the USSR. Starting with his time as the Prime Minister, he began work to bring Russia back on the global platform to rival the old position of the USSR.
Putin’s time as the Prime Minister was contested. Opposition parties wanted to remove Yeltsin from power and were opposed to Putin. Putin shut down his critics and rivals with his strong approach to law and order. He was relentless in his suppression of Chechen fighters in the Second Chechen War. This made him popular with the public. Putin was elected for his first term in 2000. With solidified power, Putin went on to rebuild the image of Russia. Putin was a master of negotiations and managed to bring peace to the region of Chechnya. He did so by giving the region autonomy while bringing it within the fold of Republic of Russia. He was aided by economic resurgence of Russia which benefitted from the ever increasing prices of oil. He got support of Russian oligarchs which gave him personal benefits along with increased wealth at the same time. Putin had been a critic of the dissolution of USSR. To win the second term he used the political rhetoric to bring out all life welfare programs to benefit the nation. What supported these ideas was the growing strength of the economy which stumbled in the aftermath of the Cold War.
The world had kept its eyes on the activities of Putin. It was clear from the beginning that Putin tended to pursue authoritarian aims. These concerns were justified during the eight years of Putin’s presidency. The government came down hard on the dissidents and critics of the government. What made it difficult to judge was the popularity of Putin as the leader. Putin went after oligarchs who were critical of his policies. Putin bought out his rivals or made sure that dissenting voices were heard. The case of Mikhail Khodorkovsky is an example of shutting down dissent. Putin also surged the use of police force to curb down protests. Putin was out to rebuild the Russia which had dominated the world. In 2008, facing a constitutional limit over consecutive terms, Putin handpicked prime minister Dmitry Medvedev as the President while still controlling the powers of the executive in Russia. This term was highlighted in the news for many reasons. The main ones being the curbing down on Anti- Putin protests along with increased homophobic rhetoric which targeted the group. It was not until the third term that the world came to know the true strength of Putin and his Russia. Putin became more and more aggressive by the time of third term.
Putin had firmly established his grip over power in Russia and from here he set out his ambitions to rebuild the lost Russian control. This began started with the increased hostilities with Ukraine and the eventual annexation of the Crimean peninsula. This action brought international criticism but it served the purpose of bringing the emerging power of Russia on the global platform. Putin has pushed and engaged in multiple conflicts around the world. The biggest one being the Syrian Civil War. Russia has been a major ally for the Syrian government. The recent decision by the US to pull out of Syria increased the foothold of Russia in the politics of the region.
On the face, Russia is democracy with a supposed free media and legislature allowed to make any laws they want, in reality the democracy is seen as backsliding. The media organisations are in the support of the government with major networks working as the public front for the Kremlin. Putin has a firm control over the coverage with rivals and critics being caught in false scandals. The government used extreme force to curb protests against Putin in 2012. To counter any criticism from any foreign government or group, Putin has engaged in diversion techniques, mainly ‘Whataboutism’. He has been able to divert any criticism by focusing on the issues in other countries. He used this technique to perfection in the interview with Megyn Kelly deflecting from the issue of suppression of LGBT in Russia by pointing out the use of brutal police force against black people in America.
Putin is the example of a strongman. The fall of USSR was supposed to be the end of authoritarian rule in Russia. At the end of risky decade in the 1990s, Putin has made Russia a formidable world power while completely holding power destroying all democratic barriers to hold him back.
