Abstract
Much has happened in the two decades since the end of the Cold War. In the immediate aftermath of the fall of the Soviet Union, Russia went through a period of dramatic domestic political change and uncertainty in the foreign policy arena. A country that was once a superpower in a bipolar world began to doubt its place in the international system – and not without reason: the collapse of the USSR left Russia in a state of economic, political, and social turmoil, marked by declining economic output and increasing inflation, foreign debt, and budget deficits. Other problems included lack of law and order, loss of central control over the periphery, conflicts in Chechnya, rampant corruption, chronic political instability, and a severe financial crisis. At the start of Vladimir Putin’s presidency, the country’s share of world GDP had fallen to just 1.5%, in contrast to the 21% share held by the United States (Legvold 2001). Moreover, Russia’s economic and political transition during the 1990s was fraught with complications and disappointments.
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Notes
- 1.
- 2.
For more about the influence of Primakov’s ideas, see Mankoff (2009).
- 3.
For an overview of the causes and implications of the Yukos affair, see Tompson (2005). Andrei Tsygankov also discusses Kremlin-led actions against Russian oligarchs in Chapter 3 of this volume.
- 4.
Stent (2008) argues that Russia’s new foreign policy is a mix between restoration and revolution.
- 5.
Christopher Granville provides a detailed analysis of Russia’s post-Cold War economic recovery in Chapter 4 of this volume.
- 6.
OECD (2010). Amounts are denoted in US dollars at current prices at the time of writing.
- 7.
For a comprehensive review, see Åslund et al. (2010).
- 8.
- 9.
Luzkhov criticized Medvedev’s decision to halt construction of a highway between Moscow and St. Petersburg and implied that Putin should return as president.
- 10.
For an interesting look at voter attitudes toward Putin and Medvedev, see Hale and Colton (2010).
- 11.
For an overview of the Georgia Crisis, see King (2008).
- 12.
See, for example, Domjan and Stone (2009).
- 13.
Mankoff (2008) provides a more detailed discussion of these camps, which he separates into ethnic nationalists, neo-imperialists, centrists, and Westernizers.
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Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank Sarah Garding, Maria Vassilieva, and Theocharis Grigoriadis for their helpful comments and feedback. Kathy Bowen, Peter Volberding, and Robert Nelson provided valuable research assistance.
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Govella, K., Aggarwal, V.K. (2012). Introduction: The Fall of the Soviet Union and the Resurgence of Russia. In: Aggarwal, V., Govella, K. (eds) Responding to a Resurgent Russia. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-6667-4_1
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