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Russia
I. Introduction:
1. RussiaAimingtoRegainitsGlobalInfluenceandEconomicPower:
Russia is currently building a market economy, has opened up to foreign investors and is trying to
integratewiththeinternationalcommunity.
Withresurgenceofitseconomy,Russiaisaimingtoregainitsinfluenceandeconomicpower,according
toanalysts.Withitsemergenceasaglobalenergysupplier,Russiaiscurrentlyplayingapositiverolein
addressingawiderangeofissuesrelatedtoenergysecurity.
Russia has consolidated its influence over Central Asia's energy resources and increased its strategic
dominanceinEurope'senergymarkets.
2. ParliamentaryElectionsinRussia(December2007):
Putin'sUnitedRussiaPartyWinstheElections:InDecember2007,Parliamentaryelectionswereheld
inRussia.PresidentPutin'sUnitedRussiaPartycruisedtoalandslidevictorywith61.4%votes.Itwon315
seats in the 450seat State Duma (Lower House of the Russian Parliament). The Communists came
secondwith11.6%votes.Sevenpartiesfailedtoclearthe7%thresholdtowinseats.
PutinVoteaSignofPoliticalStabilityinRussia:PresidentPutinwhohadcampaignedfortheUnited
Russia Party hailed the victory as a sign of stability in Russia. He stressed that the elections showed
Russians would never allow their country to go down a destructive road as it happened in some post
SovietStates.ThiswasinterpretedasanapparentreferencetotheWestsponsoredcolouredrevolutions
inGeorgia,UkraineandKyrgyzstan.
Endorsement of Putin's Leadership of the Russian Federation: The landslide victory of the United
RussiaPartyisanendorsementofPresidentVladimirPutin'sleadershipoftheRussianFederationover
thelasteightyears.UnderMr.Putin'sleadershipRussiahasrestoreditsintegrity,economicandmilitary
strengthandglobalinfluence.
3. PresidentialElections(March2008):
EndofPresidentPutin'sTerm:PresidentVladimirPutinistostepdownaspertheConstitution,which
allowsonlytwostraightPresidentialterms.
DeputyPremierMedvedevNominatedastheNextPresidentofRussia:InDecember2007,Russian
PresidentVladimirPutinbackedFirstDeputyPrimeMinisterDmitryMedvedev.42yearoldMedvedevisa
lawexpertandiswidelybelievedtobebusinessfriendly.
MedvedevwinsPresidentialElections:DmitryMedvedevwaselectedasthenewPresidentofRussiain
March 2008. He secured more than 70 per cent of the votes. His rivals Communist leader Gennady
Zyuganov,ultranationalistVladimirZhirinovsky,andAndreiBogdanov.
Medvedev Pledged to Continue Putin's Policy: The President elect Dmitry Medvedev pledged to
continuethepolicyoftheoutgoingPresidentVladimirPutin.
4. Medvedev Sworn in as the President of Russia: On May 7, 2008 Dmitry Medvedev was sworn in as the
PresidentofRussia.
5. Vladimir Putin Confirmed Prime Minister of Russia: On May 8, 2008 Vladimir Putin was endorsed by the
ParliamentasthePrimeMinisterofRussia.
6. Terms of the President and Parliament Extended: On November 14, 2008, Russias Parliament approved
changes to the Constitution, lengthening both the Presidential and Parliamentary terms. The Presidential term
wasextendedfromfourtosixyearsandtheParliamentstermwasextendedfromfourtofiveyears.President
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wasextendedfromfourtosixyearsandtheParliamentstermwasextendedfromfourtofiveyears.President
MedvedevhadarguedthatlongertermsforthePresidentandParliamentwouldfacilitatereformsandenhance
politicalstability.
II. Background:
1. SweepingPoliticalReformLaunchedbythethenRussianPresidentVladimirPutin:
Strengthening Hold on the Provinces: On September 28, 2004, the then Russian President, Vladimir
Putin, launched a sweeping political reform to strengthen his hold on the provinces in the face of a
growingthreatofIslamicfundamentalism.
AbolishingtheElectionofGovernorsbyUniversalSuffrage:ThethenRussianPresidentsentabillto
theParliamentabolishingtheelectionofregionalGovernorsbyuniversalsuffrage.Thenewlawenabled
himtoappointGovernors,subjecttoendorsementbyregionallegislatures.
Reform Prompted by Concerns over the Threat to Russias Territorial Integrity by Terrorists:
Analysts feel that the reform was prompted by concerns over the threat from terrorists to the territorial
integrityofRussia.ThethenRussianPresidentcalledforanoverhaulofthepoliticalsystemtostrengthen
nationalunityinthefaceofterroristattemptstoprovokeadisintegrationofthecountry.
PoliticalReformCriticisedbytheWestforUnderminingtheDemocraticProcessinRussia:Thethen
PresidentPutinssweepingpoliticalreformhasbeencriticisedbytheWest,aswellasRussianliberalsas
anattempttoconcentratepowerinthehandsofthePresidentandunderminethedemocraticprocess.
StateControlofOilandGasIndustry:Expertspointoutthatalldecisionsfromexplorationpolicyandthe
saleofRussiancrudearenowcontrolledbytheGovernment.Controlofenergyisseenasapartofthe
thenPresidentPutinseffortstocentralisepower.TheGovernmenthasforbiddenprivateintereststobuild
oilandgaspipelinesinRussia,handlingstateownedpipelineoperatorTransneftamonopoly.
2. RussiasPragmaticForeignPolicy:
AdvancingNationalandEconomicInterests:ThethenRussianPresident,VladimirPutin,stressedona
pragmaticforeignpolicyaimedatadvancingRussiasnationalandeconomicinterests.
RemainsGlobalinitsSweep:Russiasforeignpolicyremainedglobalinitssweep,notonlybyvirtueof
thecountrysmilitaryandpoliticalweight,butalsoduetoitsgeography,accordingtoMr.Putin.
Cooperation with Allies Should be Equitable and Beneficial: Russia should look for such allies in
Europe,Asia,AfricaandAmericawhorecogniseandrespectitsnationalinterestsandcooperationwith
whomisequitableandbeneficialforRussia,accordingtoMr.Putin.
3. Mr.PutinsGoal:
RestoringRussiasGlobalInfluence:bymakingitalynchpinofasystemofantiterroralliances.Mr.Putin
discarded the old idea that Russia must choose between East and West. Today Russia realistically
recogniseswhatisinitsinterestsandwhatisnt,accordingtoMr.Putin.
AllianceswithEastandWest:Mr.PutinbelievedthathecananchorRussiainasystemofalliancesthat
includeIndiaandChinaononeendandtheUSandNATOontheother,accordingtoRussiansecurity
experts.
III. RussiasNewForeignPolicyDoctrine:
1. AssignsHigherPrioritytoRelationswithIndia:
Russiasnewforeignpolicydoctrine,approvedbythePresidentDmitryMedvedevassignshigherpriority
torelationswithIndia.
The new foreign policy doctrine lays greater emphasis on political and economic cooperation between
RussiaandIndiacomparedtothepreviousdoctrine.
ThenewforeignpolicyconceptpaperemphasisedthatindeepeningthestrategicpartnershipwithIndia,
Russiapursuestheprincipledpolicytowardsstrongerinteractiononburninginternationalproblemsand
allroundstrengtheningofmutuallybeneficialrelationsinallspheres,especiallyinachievingasubstantial
upliftincommercialandeconomicties.
2. RelationswithIndiaandChinadescribedasStrategic:
The foreign policy concept paper defines relations with India and China as Russias most important
vectorinAsia.
ForthefirsttimeRussiasforeignpolicydoctrinedescribesrelationswithIndiaandChinaasstrategicfor
Russia.
3. CallforCloserTrilateralCooperationwithIndiaandChina:Theforeignpolicydoctrinecalledforclosertrilateral
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3. CallforCloserTrilateralCooperationwithIndiaandChina:Theforeignpolicydoctrinecalledforclosertrilateral
cooperation with India and China. It was pointed out that Russia shared the interest of China and India in
advancingeffectivepoliticalandeconomicinteractionintheRussiaIndiaChinatriangularformat.Theprevious
foreignpolicydoctrinehadnotmentionedthetriangularformat.
4. TheforeignpolicydoctrineassignedspecialimportancetothefurtherstrengtheningoftheShanghaiCooperation
Organisation(SCO).
5. Unlikethepreviousforeignpolicydoctrine,thenewdoctrineomitsacallonIndiaandPakistantosignanuclear
testbantreatyandthenonproliferationpact.
6. RussiaMaintainsItsNegativeStancetowardsNATOsExpansion:
Russia maintained its negative stance towards the NATO expansion, in particular towards the plan to
grant Ukraine and Georgia the NATO membership, as well as towards bringing the NATO military
infrastructureclosertoRussianbordersingeneral,accordingtothedoctrine.
SuchadevelopmentwouldfostertheemergenceofnewdividinglinesinEurope,accordingtotheforeign
policyconceptpaper.
7. US Plan to Deploy a Missile Shield in Czech Republic and Poland would Destroy the Security System in
Europe:
Detailingtheforeignpolicyguidelines,theRussianPresidentDmitryMedvedevwarnedthattheUSplans
todeployamissileshieldintheCzechRepublicandPolandwoulddestroythesecuritysysteminEurope.
Mr.Medvedevstressedthatthecommon(security)heritagecannotsurviveifoneofthesidesselectively
destroysisolatedelementsofthestrategicconstruction.Heemphasisedthatthiscouldnotbeaccepted
andRussiawouldbecompelledtoreacttothisadequately.
TheRussianPresidentemphasisedthatitwasextremelyimportanttorebuffattemptstosecureinterestsof
onecountryoragroupofcountriesbysidesteppinginternationallaw.
IV. RussiasCurrentDefencePolicy:
1. ModernisationofRussiasArmedForces:
RussianPresidentDmitryMedvedevorderedamassiveupgradeoftheArmedForcesinSeptember2009.
Mr.Medvedevaskedthemilitarycommanderstocomeupwithaplanforacrosstheboardmodernisation
ofthecountrysnuclearandconventionalforcestill2020inthelightoftherecentwarwithGeorgia.
It was of paramount importance to make a realistic assessment of the militarypolitical situation in the
worldandhaveaclearunderstandingofpotentialthreats,accordingtotheRussianPresident.Thewar
with Georgia, which Mr. Medvedev described as Russias 9/11 had lent greater urgency to such a
review.
2. RussiasBiggestWarGamesTheStability2008(September2008):
InSeptember2008,RussiahelditsbiggestwargamessincethebreakupoftheSovietUnion.
TheexercisetermedtheStability2008involvednearly50,000troopsandover7,000piecesofheavy
wargear,includingaircrafts,shipsandnuclearmissiles.
Russia successfully testfired four longrange nuclearcapable missiles over the weekend in an
unprecedentedshowofforcesincetheendoftheColdWar.
ATopolmissilewasfiredfromamobilelauncheratthePlisetskspacecentreinnorthwestRussia.
AnuclearSubmarinetestfiredthenewICBMSinevaintheBarentsSea.
Russiasnucleardeterrentwasingoodshapeandnewweaponsystemswouldbeinductedinthefuture,
accordingtotheRussianPresident.
3. DefenceSpendingfor2009Increasedby27%:PrimeMinisterVladimirPutinannounceda27percentincrease
inRussiasdefencespendingin2009,to$53billion.
V. RussianEconomy:
1. PlantoShiftthefocusofRussiasForeignTradefromEuropetoAsia,PrioritisingIndiaandChina:
RussiaplanstoshiftthefocusofitsforeigntradefromEuropetoAsia,givingprioritytoIndiaandChina.
RussiasForeignTradeStrategythrough2020approvedbytheRussianCabinetinOctober2008,called
forreorientingtheforeigntradegraduallyfromtheEuropeantoAsianmarkets.
RussiaplanstostepupeconomictieswithIndia,China,Iran,AfghanistanandMongolia.
TheForeignTradeStrategycalledforclosereconomicintegrationwithexSovietalliesintheRussialed
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TheForeignTradeStrategycalledforclosereconomicintegrationwithexSovietalliesintheRussialed
EurasiaEconomicUnionBelarus,Kazakhstan,Uzbekistan,KyrgyzstanandTajikistan.
China and India would replace Europe as Russias main trading partners as they are the key markets
whichhavebeengrowingmoredynamicallythantheEuropeanUnion,accordingtoRussianofficials.
2. OilandGaswillDominateRussiasExports,however,theshareofengineeringgoodsinRussiasexportswould
bedoubledby2020.
3. RussiaandChinaSignedaDealtoBuildanOilPipelinefromSiberiaacrosstheChineseBorder:
InOctober2008RussiaandChinasignedadealtobuildanoilpipelinefromSiberiaacrosstheChineseborder.
Thedealprovidesforthesupplyofabout15milliontonnesofoilperyear.
4. RussiaChinaTradereaches$50Billionin2008:TradebetweenRussiaandChinatouched$50billionin2008
and was projected to increase between $60 and $80 billion by 2010. Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin
calledforswitchingintradewithChinafromdollarstoroublesandyuan.
5. GlobalFinancialCrisishadanAdverseImpactonRussiasEconomicBoom:Analystspointoutthattheglobal
financialcrisishasadverselyimpactedRussianeconomyboomdrivenbyhighoilprices.TheRussianeconomy
wasfastmovingtowardsrecession.However,theRussianGovernmentinsiststhattheGDPwouldgrowbetween
2percentand3percentnextyear.
VI. RussiasRelationswiththeUS:
RussiaWelcomedUSOffertoResetRelations:InFebruary2009,RussiawelcomedanofferbytheUStoreset
relationswithRussia.ThiswasseenasasignthattheformerColdWarrivalscouldrepairtheirstrainedrelations
underthenewUSPresidentBarackObama.
US VicePresident Joe Biden said that it was time to end the dangerous drift in relations between the US and
Russia.
TheUSwouldnotagreewithRussiaoneverything,buttheUSandRussiacandisagreeandstillworktogether
wheretheirinterestscoincide,accordingtoMr.Biden.
Russia announced that it would allow US supplies for Afghanistan to cross it territory to avoid Pakistan where
supply lines are being threatened by military attacks. However, Russia made it clear that only nonlethal US
supplieswouldbepermittedacrossitsterritory.
TheUSandRussiaareengagedinagreatgameinCentralAsiawhereKyrgyzstanaskedtheUStocloseitsair
baseinthatcountry.ThefutureoftheUSairbaseisthesymptomofdeepercontestbetweentheUSandRussia
towrestcontroloverCentralAsia.
RussiaofferedthatitwouldnotinstallmissilesnearPolandiftheUSdroppeditsplansforanEasternEuropean
basedmissiledefencesystem.TheObamaAdministrationhassofarnotrespondedtoRussiasoffer.
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