Post-Soviet Russia
Politics
• Mikhail Gorbachev was
the first and last president
of the Soviet Union
• On Dec. 21st, 1991, he
dissolved the USSR and
then resigned from his
position on Christmas
night
Boris Yeltsin
• Yeltsin became the first
elected president of Russia
in June, 1992
• Barely a year later he was
already having problems
with the Parliament, who
was blocking, overturning,
and ignoring his initiatives
to expand democracy and
draft a new constitution.
• In September of 1993, Yeltsin dissolved the Parliament and
called for new elections
• In December, a new Parliament was elected and a new
constitution approved
• By mid-96, Russians had participated in 3 elections: 2
legislative and 1 presidential
• When Yeltsin was re-elected to office, this was a big step
for him and the Russian voters: this was the first time a
head of state had been subjected to public scrutiny and still
approved for a second term.
• By this point, the government was still a strange mixture of
Soviet and Western governance
• Yeltsin resigned on Dec. 31st, 1999, and Vladimir Putin
was elected in March 2000.
• This election, along with the Parliament election of ’99,
was judged as being free and fair by the international
community
Economic Situation
• The economy has undergone tremendous stress during the
transition to a free market system
• While democracy introduced new freedoms to Russians,
they also lost the social security net provided by MarxismLeninism, which had guaranteed employment, basic
medical care, and government subsidies for food, clothing,
shelter, and transportation
• This loss caused social and economic downturns for many
Russians
• The gap widen between the richest and the poorest. By ’95, 56% of
respondents in a survey had replied that their material situation had
declined; only 17% replied as having improved
• In ’98, Russia faced a serious financial crisis due to the
implementation of fiscal reforms and a large dependence on short-term
borrowing
• In the following year, however, Russia was able to raise
it’s real GDP to the highest it had been since the fall of the
Soviet Union
• In 2000-01, Russia met its external debt services and made
large advance repayments on IMF loans and still remains
current on its foreign debt
• Since ’99, the standard of living has been on the rise but
almost one-third of the population still did not meet the
minimum subsistence level of money income
• The Ministry of Economic Development estimates that the
number of people under the subsistence will gradually
decrease by 23-25% by 2005
Foreign Relations
•
Russia has taken steps to participate
fully on the international stage
• Dec. 27th, 1991- Russia assumes the USSR’s seat in the
UN Security Council as one of the P5
• 1994- signed the NATO Partnership for Peace and a
partnership and cooperation agreement with the EU
• 1997- signed NATO-Russia Founding Act; this paved the
way for a smoother partnership between Russia and the
Alliance
• Russia has also become a member of the Organization for
Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the North
Atlantic Cooperation Council (NACC)
General Info
• Human rights have improved, but there are still reports of
beatings and torturing of detainees and inmates by law
enforcement and correctional officers. A “human rights
ombundsman” has been appointed by the Parliament in ’97
• Judicial system In ’01, the Parliament passed the Criminal
Procedural Code which helped align Russia’s judicial
system with that of the West
• HIV/AIDS Russia and the Ukraine are said to have the
highest growth rates of HIV infection the world; it seems
to be mostly due to IV drug use
• Industry Russia is one of the most industrialized nations of
the former Soviet Union; years of very low investment,
however, have left most industry antiquated and highly
inefficient