Most tellingly, the majority of Putin’s mass popular support stems from the historical contrast of current living conditions in Russia against the backdrop of the tumultuous 1990s , which continues to cast its dark shade in the minds of Russians. Russia, under Boris Yeltsin’s rule in the 1990s, was marked by years of anarchy...
Category: Blog Posts
Post
Putin’s Russia, Part V: A Political Machine – Economy
The Russian economy is a blend of liberal free market and statist socialist features, plagued by pervasive corruption. Under Putin’s system, the economy is carefully managed by the state. Since Putin assumed the presidency in 2000, the Russian government has nationalized and seized control of the country’s raw materials export economy, which is especially pertinent...
Post
Putin’s Russia, Part IV: A Political Machine – Politics
Nominally, Russia is a democracy. It holds free, competitive, multi-party elections to vote candidates into different branches of the government and guarantees basic freedoms to its people under its constitution. However, ever since Putin attained power in 1999 as Prime Minister then President of Russia, he has centralized Russian politics to create a distinct, highly...
Post
Raúl Castro: Is Cuba Better off Now?
In the United States, ten different polls can be conducted on Barack Obama and the findings can be assumed to be fairly accurate. Researchers even go as far as to ensure that the methods are as unbiased as possible. This gives us an idea of the general views regarding our president and the current decisions...
Post
Putin’s Russia, Part III: Western Encroachment
So Russia is sliding into economic decline, but why does political support for Putin remain high amidst the economic downturn? To truly understand the average Russian’s mindset, we have to examine the historical, political, and social frameworks that have shaped their way of life and observing the world. ———————————————————————————————————– NATO Expansion In 1990, during the negotiations between...
Post
Putin’s Russia, Part II: Ukraine
So Russia is sliding into economic decline, but why does political support for Putin remain high amidst the economic downturn? To truly understand the average Russian’s mindset, we have to examine the historical, political, and social frameworks that have shaped the their way of life and observing the world. ———————————————————————————————————– Ukraine Historically, Russia has viewed—and continues to...
Post
Putin’s Russia, Part I: Economic Woes
Today, I’m going to elaborate on a post that got a lot of attention recently on our Facebook page: Russia has been in an economic recession due to Western sanctions and the decline in oil prices–however, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s approval rating has reached an all-time high, with 9 out of 10 Russians approving of...
Post
Brazil
On July 1, 2013, the Brazilian National Soccer team ousted the Spanish National team in the finals of the FIFA Confederations Cup in front of their home fans in Rio de Janeiro. The night that followed was a night of nationalistic pride to say the least, but not in the way that President Dilma Rousseff...
Post
Meet our new Intern!
Nishil Thakkar Hello everyone! My name is Nishil and I am so excited about my upcoming internship with the World Affairs Council of the Greater Richmond Area! As a graduate from the IB program at Henrico High School, as well as a future attendee of the School of International Service at American University,...
Post
What is Wrong With France?
When discussing the Eurozone crisis, most news stations spend most of their time focusing on the PIGS (Portugal, Italy, Greece and Spain). These are the countries that have faced the most economic turmoil and pose some of the greatest risk to the future of the Euro. However, another...