The Popularity of Putin and What It Means for America
Source: Smithsonian.com
When Mikhail Gorbachev, as president of the U.S.S.R., stepped down on December 25, 1991, it marked the end of the seven-decade experiment known as the Soviet Union. But for Russia, the end of the U.S.S.R. was also the beginning of a long slog to stability. Between 1991 and 1995, the national GDP fell 34 percent, a worse plummet than what the United States suffered during the Great Depression. Unemployment surged, and the Russian people struggled to get basic necessities. Even though the dissolution of the Soviet regime and the election of Boris Yeltsin as president ostensibly brought Western ideals of “freedom” to the Russian people, the reality was still a life of corruption and a struggle for survival.
To understand this dramatic transition period, journalist Anne Garrels, who worked as the Moscow bureau chief for ABC and a foreign correspondent for NPR, spent more than 20 years visiting Chelyabinsk, a central Russian city that served as an industrial hub for the Soviet Union. She picked Chelyabinsk at random, wanting to see beyond the perspective offered by Moscow’s elite and the ruling class.
Following Gorbachev’s resignation, Russia grappled with how to redraw its national boundaries, rebuild its economy, and reconstruct its political system. While independent countries emerged from the former Soviet Union and the economy slowly rebounded, hopes for democracy that began with Yeltsin gradually gave way to more totalitarian methods. Yeltsin handpicked Vladimir Putin, former head of the FSB (successor to the KGB) as his successor, leading Putin to win the 2000 presidential election. In 2008 Putin ceded the presidency to Dmitry Medvedev, ostensibly honoring the rules of Russian’s two consecutive term limit for presidency. Putin stepped into position as prime minister, using Medvedev as a placeholder until he could return as president once more in 2012.
Early in Putin’s regime, his presidency benefited from Russia’s economic reliance on the oil industry, but as of late this same reliance has resulted in financial turmoil. In foreign matters, Putin’s aggressive stance has endeared him to Russians; his successful annexation of Crimea in March 2014 shot him up to an 84 percent approval rating. Crackdowns on press freedom and other civil liberties have only served to strengthen his position.
More at: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/popularity-putin-and-what-it-means-america-180961598/
