Russia is one of the most influential geopolitical
entities in the world today and this is mainly as a result of its unique
position in the global arena. This country has been extremely influential in
the Eurasian region for much of its history and this influence has not only
been political, but cultural as well. The power of this state, from the time of
the tsars to the post-communist world can be considered to have essentially
remained intact within the region surrounding it. This country is normally ranked
second only to the United States in its ability to project its power across the
globe and it is mainly as a result of this that it has been able to retain its
influence long after falling from its superpower status.
Geography
Russia is the largest country in the world with its
borders stretching from northern Europe across northern Asia to the Bering Straits.
As the largest country in the world, with an area of 17,075,400 square
kilometres, it is one of the few countries in the world that have a diversity
of natural resources, people, as well as neighbouring countries. The result is
that this country has come to exert a lot of influence over a large territory
as well as its neighbours for centuries. Its geographical position is unique
because it allows it to wield some influence on three continents as well as
being able to project itself militarily. Russia incorporates a wide range of
climates and environments within its territory and these have had an effect on
its historical development. Moreover, this country has borders with a diverse
number of countries including China, Norway, Lithuania, Finland, Kazakhstan,
Mongolia, the United States across the Bering Straits, among many others. The geographical position of this country has
also placed it on top of the largest oil and gas reserves on the planet and
this country has been able to ensure that this resource is used to further its
geopolitical power over the Eurasian region. In addition to oil and natural
gas, Russia has other significant resources which include deposits of timber,
coal, and as well as mineral resources that have given it an advantage over
other countries in the region. As the largest producer of natural gas in the
world, Russia is in a unique position to determine the futures of some of its
neighbouring countries, most of which were former member states of the Soviet
Union. It is through its unique position as being the number one producer of
natural gas, in addition to oil, that it has been able to ensure that it
maintains its influence over the region because it has the funding necessary to
make its influence felt. The large forests that are found in the region of
Siberia are second only to the Amazon jungle in Brazil and they are believed to
absorb large amounts of carbon dioxide which helps to ensure that the air in
the region is kept clean. The eastern parts of Russia are relatively sparsely
populated when compared to the European side which carries the bulk of the
population. While this may be the case, there are a significant number of
people in all its administrative regions, these being individuals who have for
the most part acclimatised to the harsh climate that occurs especially in the
northernmost parts of the country. While Russia has come to occupy such a large
area, this was not the case in its early centuries where it was essentially
divided into diverse city-states and duchies controlled by members of the Rurik
dynasty. However, all this changed when these disparate city states were
unified and the Russian state began its expansion in earnest during the 16th
century. The result was that it ended up conquering much of the land that had
once been occupied by the Mongol Golden Horde. Its occupation of new lands
sealed its fate in world history because it is through its size as well as its
multiethnic make up that this state has come to be recognised into the modern
world. Through its new found geographical acquisitions, Russia was able to make
sure that it was no longer a victim of the aggression of other European powers.
Instead, its geographical position became the basis upon which its status as a
great European power was established and this would continue until the fall of
Communism in 1991.
History
The Russian state was established in the tenth century
by a legendary group of Vikings based in Kiev and this would later expand into
what came to be known as Russia. The founders of this state, according to
legend, were Rurik and his brothers who would eventually end up forming the
Rurik dynasty that would rule Russia until the death of Ivan the Terrible. The early Russian state was essentially a pagan one with little
interaction with the outside world until Prince Vladimir of Kiev converted to Orthodox
Christianity, thus establishing ties with the Byzantine Empire. The growth of
the Russian state was brought to a sudden halt in the thirteenth century during
the Mongol conquest which resulted in the sacking of Kiev. The destruction of
the first Russian state led to a shift of power to Moscow, which was ruled by
another Rurik prince and was a vassal of the Mongols.
The vassalage to the Mongols of the Golden Horde ensured the survival of the
Russian state in Moscow in the form of the Grand Duchy of Muscovy. This would
eventually rise to such great prominence that it would not only overthrow
Mongol rule, but would eventually evolve into the Russian Empire, encompassing
all the lands of the Golden Horde. With the conquest of the Byzantine Empire by
the Ottoman Turks, Russia, which had also established ties through dynastic
marriage, claimed to be the heir to the power and glory of Caesars. In this
way, Moscow came to be considered the third Rome and its rulers began to be
called Tsars, Russian for Caesar.
Russia entered the modern age under the rule of Peter
the Great whose efforts were directed at making his country a truly European
state. He forced the Russians to cease some of the traditions that seemed to
keep them back and were considered unEuropean. Furthermore, he established a
new capital closer to Europe at St. Petersburg, essentially choosing it over
Moscow as the preeminent city in the Russian Empire. In addition to these efforts, Peter the Great carried out
campaigns which ensured that the empire was greatly expanded while at the same
time gaining political leverage with other European states through developing
modern means of shipping as well as adopting the European culture, especially
that of France. However, despite these efforts, Peter was not able to end one
of the institutions which held Russia back from becoming one of the most
powerful states in Europe, serfdom. Serfdom had existed in Russia for centuries
and this institution had developed to such an extent that individuals,
particularly serfs, were essentially slaves in their own land. The serfs formed
the majority of the Russian population and these were tied to the land which
for the most part was held by nobles or boyars; individuals who practically
owned the serfs on their land. Serfdom remained a stain in Peter’s legacy and
it would eventually be the motivation behind the Russian Revolution centuries
later in the early twentieth century.
The Russian Revolution and the resulting civil war is
one of the most significant events to have taken place in the twentieth century
because it ensured the rise of communism in the former Russian Empire, which
became the Soviet Union, and later across the globe. The Russian royal family
was put to death and the monarchy abolished to be replaced by a communist state
under the leadership of Vladimir Lenin. Lenin was a charismatic leader who was
a staunch believer in Marxist philosophy and sought to ensure that communism
spread all over the world. His death and succession by Josef Stalin led to a
new phase in the development of communism in Russia with Stalin choosing a more
aggressive approach to that taken by his predecessor. He made a deal with the
Nazi government in Germany for the partition of Poland and after the Nazis
invaded the Soviet Union, he changed sides and joined the allies in the Second
World War. The fall
of Britain, Germany, and France as great powers after the Second World War
paved the way for the Soviet Union to become a global superpower alongside the
United States and this ushered in considerable rivalry between these states
that became known as the Cold War. The power of these countries was based on
their having considerable nuclear arsenals; the latter ensuring that there was
no direct confrontation between these superpowers. The fall of communism and
the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 was one of the most significant
events in the later twentieth century because it ensured American pre-eminence
in a unipolar world.
Power
Despite its loss of power after the collapse of the
Soviet Union, Russia has remained an important player in regional and global
politics. One of its greatest strengths is that it has been able to maintain a
level of influence over a majority of former soviet republics especially
through the significant number of Russians living in these countries. Furthermore, as a result of its size as well as abundant natural
resources, especially natural gas and oil, this country has been able to ensure
that it exerts a level of influence over its neighbours. This is especially the
case with the European Union which for years developed deals of cooperation
with Russia while the latter supplied it with one third of its natural gas
supplies. Under the leadership of Vladimir Putin, Russia has seen its influence
rise on the global stage, with its becoming more assertive about its interests.
Through its permanent membership in the United Nations Security Council, Russia
has been able to ensure that it not only protects its legitimate interests, but
also those of its allies. The result has been that it has increasingly
cooperated with China to break the dominance of the United States and its
allies over global affairs. Russia is also a nuclear state with the largest
nuclear arsenal in the world and this has helped in securing its position in
the globe as well as acting as a deterrent to powers that would otherwise led
to its demise.
However, despite its strengths, Russia also has several
weaknesses which might create a situation where it loses its geopolitical
position. Among these is its overreliance on its oil and natural gas production
to cater for some 50% of its budget. This overreliance on its natural resources
has created a situation where Russia has essentially failed to diversify its
economy and this poses a potential threat from a geopolitical perspective.
Furthermore, its aggressive stance to protect its natural interests has made it
a target for American and European Union sanctions with the latter seeing
Russian re-emergence as a threat to their global dominance. These sanctions,
imposed in 2014 at the height of the Ukraine crisis and Russian annexation of
Crimea, have been harmful to the Russian economy and have led to its shrinking.
The fall of global oil prices has also diminished Russia’s budgetary
capabilities; hampering its continued rise as a dominant geopolitical power in
the Eurasian continent.
Russia has attempted to ensure that it no longer loses
its influence over former soviet republics after Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania not
only joined NATO but also the European Union. This is the reason why Russia has
chosen to take on a more aggressive stance because it considers NATO
encroachment on its borders as a threat. The wars first in Georgia in 2008 and
the ongoing Ukraine civil war are actions which have been taken by Russia to
prevent former soviet republics from joining NATO. Since the
return of Vladimir Putin to the Russian presidency in 2012, the relationship
between Russia and the United States has soured as each has come to view each
other with increasing suspicion. The mutual suspicion between these two nuclear
armed states has increased tensions to almost Cold War proportions and it has
led to a situation where despite not confronting each other directly, they have
become involved in a proxy war in the Ukraine as well as in Syria where Russian
support has ensured that Bashar Al Assad has remained in power.
Conclusion
Russia has remained a powerful actor in the Eurasian
region; a factor which can be attributed to its nuclear capabilities as well as
the abundance of natural resources within its borders. The size of this country
has also ensured that it pursues a complex foreign policy designed to address
its interests with its numerous neighbours. Russia has increasingly aligned
itself with such countries as China and Iran in a bid to diminish American influence
over the rest of the world and in a bid to create a multipolar world. It is yet
to be seen whether its geopolitical objectives will be met in the near future
amid the economic sanctions that have been enforced by the United States and
its allies. The rise of Russian nationalism as a result of the Ukraine crisis
has seen a level of unprecedented support for the Russian government and its
actions; a situation which has ensured that the government is able to pursue
its objectives internationally with the full support of a majority of the
Russian populace.
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