Sept-Nov. 2014
Dr Neilson
What has Vladimir Putin done for Russia?
Vladimir Putin, a great man who is attempting to restore a country to its former glory, to restore it to its powerful past or, as many western leaders would have you believe, the biggest single threat to worldwide stability? The USSR, aka the Soviet Union, was a powerful alliance of countries during a time when strength was measured by military might rather than economic prosperity but power today is as much about having economic stability as it is about military capability. Putin has gone from being a virtual nobody to one of the most powerful and power hungry men on the planet, striving to bring these two equally important facets back to Russia. But which …show more content…
The country has been described as being all poverty with Moscow in the middle. This is not far from the truth. Siberia remains stuck in the past and is struggling to move forward. Although it accounts for 77% of Russia’s landmass it only has 27% of the population. The State takes all of the resources, which Siberia has in abundance, but returns only a small proportion of its economic worth back to its 38m people. This issue is swept under the carpet by the state controlled media and looks unlikely to change in the foreseeable future.
In addition, many civil liberties are being eroded and Russia is gravitating to its darker past. Racism is rife and ethnic minorities are treated as second class citizens. Homosexuality is frowned upon and there is now even a new law banning the ‘propaganda of non-traditional sexual relationships’, whilst the rest of the Western World is moving towards a much more inclusive and tolerant …show more content…
With some contentious laws and no positive change to massive parts of Russia, people could be forgiven for assuming that Putin is doing more bad than good, but I don’t believe that this is the case. Vladimir Putin has completely changed many aspects of Russia and it is now, perhaps for the first time ever, both economically important and a political military force to be reckoned with. Under Putin’s leadership, Russia has moved on from is Soviet heritage and has returned as a major player on the World stage, but it will not be fully accepted as such until their record on such issues as corruption, civil liberties and human rights have improved