Russia: an Introduction

1. Russia: an Introduction Geographic Feature Demographic Features Back in the USSR

2. Russian FederationMeasurements • Capital: Moscow • Population: roughly 143.5 million • Annual Population Growth: -.6 • Urban Population: 73% • Ethnic Composition (to name a few): • Russian: 81.5% • Tatar: 3.8% • Ukrainian: 3.0% • Major Languages: Russian • Religious Affiliation: • Russian Orthodox: 16.3% • Muslim: 10.0% • Labor Structure: • Agriculture: 4.9% • Industry: 33.9% • Services: 61.2% • Life Expectancy: 65.7% • Adult Illiteracy: 0% • Access to Information (per 1,000 people): • Telephone Lines: 243 • Mobile Phones: 38 • Radios: 418 • Televisions: 538 • Personal Computers: 49.7

3. Why Study Russia? • The Soviet Union was established in 1917 • World’s first communist state • Became a beacon for Communists everywhere • Provoked strong reactions from its critics • Rapid growth of the USSR deepened the tensions between Russia and the US • Cold War enveloped the globe for upwards to 50 years • Observers feared Cold War would lead to a final, violent conflict between the two systems • Soviet demise did not end in violence, but with a collapse • New generation of Soviet leaders in the 1980s tried to inject change in the old Communist system • Reforms failed and Revolutionary changes took root • The Soviet Union dissolved (devolution) into 15 independent countries • Known today as the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) • Success of revolutionary changes and whether Russia is a true democracy is still in question • It’s uneven, at best • Democratic institutions remain weak • Public cynicism pervades society • Civil freedoms have declined • Russians have grown poorer over past 15 years • Power is concentrated in the hands of the elite • Optimists counter that the country is moving forward despite having no real history of democracy or capitalism • The system does conduct open elections • Growing number of businesses and a growing middle class point to economic progress • Reconstruction is not complete, country remains in transition but path it takes will help shape its global role

4. Annual income per capita in Russia (USD)

5. Russia’s Geography • Russia is 4x the size of the US • Covers 11 time zones • Most of population is concentrated in the western region • East (Siberia) is relatively flat and sparsely populated • As Americans moved west in 19th century, Russians moved east • Harsh climate and soil didn’t lend to individualism • State could function more effectively where it developed infrastructure • Russia is not isolated; shares a border with at least 14 other countries • Centuries of invasions from Asia and Europe w/out physical isolation • Rich in wood, oil, natural gas, gold, nickel, diamonds • Many are concentrated in Siberia and hard to extract • Environmental concerns from extraction of resources, but exploitation will continue

6. Russian Diversity & Tensions • Former USSR countries have Russian minorities • Heightened nationalism; still seek relations w/ Russia • Near Abroad • Many Soviet Republics experienced ethnic fighting • Tatars, Chechens, Kazakhs were not willing partners in Soviet expansion • Most regions retained own language and culture, but political control came from Moscow • Ethnic frustrations were loud and abundant by late 1980s • Tensions have grown worse in Azerbaijan since devolution • Nagorno-Karabakh is Armenian enclave in Azerbaijan • Baltic states passed legislation making it difficult for Russians living in those countries to gain citizenship

8. Key Questions for this Topic • How and why did the Soviet Union collapse? • How did its legacy affect the way Russia has evolved? • Will Putin’s policies strengthen and stabilize the Russian state or weaken it? • Is the Russian state a viable, legitimate democracy? • Why is Russia having a hard time establishing effective institutions?