Russia and the Post-Soviet Republics

1
Russia and the Post-Soviet Republics

• January 26

2
Russian History

• Tsarist Regime
• Russian Revolution, 1917
• End of Civil War, 1921
• Lenins death, 1924
• Stalinist period, 1929-1953
• Khrushchev's secret speech critical of
  Stalinism, 1956

3
Collapse of the Soviet Union and Emergence of
Russian Federation

• Gorbachev era, 1985-1991
• Fall of the Berlin Wall, 1989
• Yeltsin becomes President of Russia, 1991
• Break-up of Soviet Union, 15 newly independent
  states emerged, including Russia, 1991
• Yeltsin, re-elected, 1996

4
Post-Soviet Republics - Population

• Russia
• Ukraine
• Uzbekistan
• Kazakhstan
• Belarus
• Azerbaijan
• Tajikistan
• Kyrgyzstan
• Turkmenistan
• Georgia
• Moldova
• Lithuania
• Armenia
• Latvia
• Estonia

• 140,041,247
• 45,700,395
• 27,606,007
• 15,399,437
• 9,648,533
• 8,238,672
• 7,349,145
• 5,431,747
• 4,884,887
• 4,615,807
• 4,320,748
• 3,555,179
• 2,967,004
• 2,231,503
• 1,299,371

5
Putin Era

• Putin becomes acting president, 1999, elected
  president, 2000 re-elected 2004
• Dmitry Medvedev elected president, 2008 Putin
  becomes PM

6
Post-Soviet Economy

• radical market reform, shock therapy, 1992
• Major financial crisis, govt defaults 1998
• Economic growth revived, 1999
• Global economic crisis hits in 2008

7
Imitation Democracies (Furman, 2008)

• Kazakhstan
• Uzbekistan
• Turkmenistan
• Russia

8
Democratic Path (Furman, 2008)

• The Baltic Republics
• Lithuania
• Latvia
• Estonia
• Moldova

9
Wavering between the democratic and authoritarian
paths (Furman, 2008)

• Ukraine
• Belarus
• Armenia
• Georgia
• Azerbaijan
• Tajikistan
• Kyrgyzstan

10
Freedom House, Map of Freedom 2010

• http//www.freedomhouse.org/uploads/fiw10/FIW_2010
  _Map_CEE-FSU.pdf
• Free
• Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Ukraine
• Partly Free
• Armenia, Georgia, Moldova
• Not Free
• Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan,
  Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan

11
Freedom House, Map of Freedom 2010

• the countries of the non-Baltic former Soviet
  Union continued their decade-long backslide
  during 2009.
• Conditions in this subregion have deteriorated
  to the point that almost every country ranks at
  the very bottom on multiple indicators measured
  by Freedom in the World.
• The areas average political rights scorewhich
  covers the spheres of electoral process,
  political pluralism, and functioning of
  government has dropped sharply over the past
  four years and is now comparable to that of the
  Middle East and North Africa.
• The non-Baltic former Soviet Union lags far
  behind sub- Saharan Africa on the average scores
  for political rights and civil liberties, as well
  as on the majority of individual indicators,
  including freedom of expression, freedom of
  association, and the rule of law.

12
Freedom House, Map of Freedom 2010

• The dominant regional power, Russia, suffered
  further deterioration despite assurances from
  President Dmitry Medvedev that reform is in the
  offing.
• Credible reports suggest that local and regional
  elections were suffused with irregularities.
• New restrictions were placed on religious
  minorities.
• A new commission was established to influence
  the presentation of history in schools and
  elsewhere, a move consistent with the Kremlins
  wider efforts to manage and manipulate
  information in the public sphere.
• Human rights defenders and journalists remained
  vulnerable to persecution and murder, and there
  was a distinct lack of progress in punishing
  those responsible for previous politically
  motivated killings.

13
Authoritarianism in Russia

• In 2004, nomination by the Russian president
  replaced election of regional governors.
• Lack of media independence.
• Many journalists have been assassinated.
• Restrictions have been placed on NGOs.
• Limitations on party registration.
• Changes to electoral system to hinder election of
  independents and regional parties.

14
Chechnya

• In 1991 Chechen declared Chechnyas independence
  from Russia
• Russian troops sent in, 1994 First Chechen War,
  1994-1996
• Cease fire and peace treaty, 1996
• Russian troops sent it, 1999 Second Chechen War,
  1999-2009

15
The Colour Revolutions

• Georgias Rose Revolution, 2003
• Ukraines Orange Revolution, 2004
• Kyrgyzstans Tulip Revolution, 2005
• Unsuccessful attempts in Armenia, Azerbaijan and
  Belarus, 2005-06 Armenia, 2008
• Attempted revolt in Uzbekistan, 2005 -brutally
  repressed.

16
Ukrainian Presidential Election 2010

• First Round - January 17.
• Incumbent President, Viktor Yushchenko, brought
  to power by the Orange Revolution received less
  than 6 of the vote.
• Viktor Yanukovich, the pro-Russian candidate
  defeated by Yushchenko in 2004 is the leader
  after the first ballot. He will face Yulia
  Tymoshenko, the current prime minister in the
  run-off.
• http//www.economist.com/world/europe/displaystory
  .cfm?story_id15330489

17
EU Enlargement to Include former Eastern Bloc
Territories

• 2004 Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia,
  Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia
• 2007 Romania, Bulgaria

18
NATO Enlargement

• 1999 Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland
• 2004 Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania,
  Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia
• 2009 Albania, Croatia
• Countries moving toward NATO membership
• Macedonia
• Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro
• Georgia, Ukraine
• http//www.nato.int/cps/en/natolive/topics_52044.h
  tm
• http//www.nato.int/cps/en/natolive/topics_49212.h
  tm