Russia in the system of international relations, political and economic

Modern Russia in the system of international relations faces many problems. Almost all of them are inherited from the Soviet past. The problems concern all spheres of international relations: political, economic, cultural, etc. In the article we will try to understand what positions Russia takes in the system of modern international relations. Let's start with the first days of the emergence of a new state - the Russian Federation.

Preconditions for the collapse of the USSR

Russia in the system of international political relations began to develop after the collapse of the Soviet Union into separate independent republics. By its scale, this event has become a real geopolitical catastrophe of the 20th century. I would like to note that by the 1980s the communist ideology had lost its former attractiveness for most of the Soviet population. In the world it happened much earlier. So, in the 60-70's. The last century saw a wave of anti-communist riots in the Warsaw Treaty countries. It is a mistake to say that the US State Department was involved in them. Soviet intelligence and counterintelligence services skillfully identified all agents of the West, were able to protect both their citizens and citizens of the Allied countries in the socialist camp from their ideological influence. People themselves became disillusioned with the ideology of the Soviet regimes. The main reason was that the USSR was lagging behind the West in the decisive areas of the scientific and technological revolution, which could no longer be hidden. It is also a mistake to say that our citizens "sold themselves for jeans and chewing gum" to capitalism, as patriots who are nostalgic for the Soviet past like to do it. The quality of life of Europeans, indeed, was much better than citizens who "defeated fascism."

"Mine delayed action"

Russia in the system of modern international relations received a new legal status on June 12, 1990. On this day, the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR proclaimed sovereignty in relation to the USSR.

The tragedy in this for us is that in fact we were the first to leave the country, which our ancestors gathered for so long. The USSR was formed only in the 1920s. However, this was due to the fact that almost all the republics included in the USSR (except Poland, the Baltic states and Finland) were internally ready for a new unification, since they maintained cultural and economic ties between themselves after the collapse of the single empire. Lenin and Trotsky made the main geopolitical mistake: they divided the country on a national basis, which would inevitably lead to national chauvinism and separatism in the future. Recall that Stalin was an opponent of such an association, and President Vladimir Putin called this process "the imposition of a delayed-action mine," which "jerked" after the collapse of socialist ideology at the end of the twentieth century.

New political status: Russia - successor to the USSR

So, our country began its new history after 1990. From this moment, the topic "Russia in the system of international relations" should be considered. After the collapse of the USSR, we faced the need for geopolitical self-determination, which affects the positioning in the geopolitical space, the choice of civilizational guidelines, the vector of foreign policy, the economic model of development, etc. The new state, the Russian Federation, proclaimed itself a "partner" and "friend" of the West, A country that will "respect and recognize all governments and existing regimes" in the world. However, we preserved the traditions of the Soviet past:

1. Positioning itself as a multinational and multicultural state. Russia for the first time in its history could have developed as a nation-state. The percentage of Russians in the new state is about 80%, and in some regions and up to 99% of the number of residents. This is more than it was in the remaining "national republics" of the former USSR at the time of the collapse. Many other nation-states can not boast such a percentage of the title nation from the number of inhabitants. However, we deliberately refused this status, paying tribute to the imperial and Soviet past. It was not by chance that the first president - Boris N. Yeltsin - began all his appeals to the people with the phrase: "Dear Russians" - this emphasized the status of citizenship, not the nation. By the way, the term "Russian" has never taken root in our society, giving way to "a citizen of Russia."
2. The status of a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council . It went to our country because Russia declared itself the legal successor of the USSR.

The latter circumstance gives us significant levers of influence in the international arena. More in this we shall understand further.

The UN Security Council - an instrument of influence on international politics

Permanent membership in the UN Security Council gives grounds to say that Russia takes the leading place in the system of international relations. Briefly list the advantages of this status:

1. Our representative in the UN can impose a "veto" on any UN resolution. In fact, without our consent, any major international event - war, sanctions against other countries, the formation of new states, etc. - will be considered illegal from the point of view of international law.
2. Russia can initiate many issues on the agenda of the UN Security Council, and others.

Unfortunately, many international processes go around the UN, which gives grounds to believe about the crisis of this organization and accuse it of the inability to solve international political problems. Russia in the system of international relations no longer plays the important role that the "united and mighty" Union once played.

Factors of Russia's influence on the state of affairs in the world

Permanent membership in the UN Security Council is not the only instrument of influence. Russia in the system of international relations occupies one of the key positions due to the following circumstances:

1. Territory. Our country is the largest in terms of territory and the seventh most populous state.
2. Location. Russia occupies a favorable geopolitical position in the center of Eurasia. With the proper conduct of foreign policy, it is possible to form the most profitable economic transit routes between the "Asian tigers" - China, South Korea and Japan - and the Old World.
3. Raw material. The share of the Russian Federation in world reserves: oil - 10-12%, iron - 25%, potassium salts - 31%, gas - 30-35%, etc. Our country can influence world prices, the volume of mining of world minerals,
4. The powerful nuclear potential that we inherited from the USSR and others.

What is Russia's place in the system of international relations? All of the above factors make us understand that our country is an influential trans-regional power and a global nuclear superpower. The anti-Russian sanctions of the West, as well as its political pressure on our country, are temporary non-constructive. This is stated not by the Russian official authorities, but by the leaders of the leading Western countries. We hope that the situation will soon return to normal. Let's try to model a possible future, based on Russia's geopolitical self-determination.

Options for the future development of Russia

Two alternative scenarios for development are possible for our country:

1. It will become an innovative way of development, carry out a comprehensive modernization, which will lead to the establishment of a democratic regime.
2. Russia will become a factor destabilizing the situation on a large part of Eurasia, which will lead to the approval of a totalitarian regime.

The third option can not be. We either develop and become an advanced developed country, or isolate ourselves completely from the rest of the world. The second option completely repeats the fate of the USSR. Unfortunately, many independent economists and political scientists note that we are following the second path and have become a "field of anarchy and chaos that extends to neighboring regions." To the traditional "Soviet" problems of technical backwardness, new, previously unprecedented: the imposition of Orthodoxy, chauvinism and nationalism at the state level, which manifests itself through the construction of the so-called "Russian world".

Russia in the system of international economic relations

We will depart from the political sphere and analyze the economic. Russia in the system of international financial relations began to develop after its entry into the international stock market. This event, of course, was a positive phenomenon for international trade, however, on the contrary, it had a negative impact on us. The reason is that we were not ready for a sharp transition to the stage of "wild capitalism" after "socialism with a human face". Gorbachev's "perestroika", although it was the birth of the first germs of a market economy, but the bulk of the population was lost in new conditions. Aggravated the situation and the "shock therapy" of our democratic government, which beat the pockets of ordinary citizens. Hunger and poverty are symbols of an era of transition. This continued until the financial crisis of July-August 1998. Declaring a default, we actually ruined many large foreign investors. Nevertheless, after these events, our country began to develop in the spirit of a capitalist power.

The problems of economic globalization for Russia

The creation of economic freedom for capital, combined with the political isolation of our country in the international arena, leads to a huge problem for the economic development of the state: there is a "capital flight". In other words, many entrepreneurs are not interested in Russia's long-term development. Their goal is to quickly put together a fortune and withdraw all profits to foreign banks. So, the outflow of capital in 2008 was 133.9 billion dollars, in 2009 - 56.9 billion dollars, in 2010 - 33.6 billion dollars, etc. Anti-Russian external sanctions and internal "twisting" Nuts "only strengthened these processes.

The conclusion can be made disappointing: the transition to a market economy for Russia was absolutely unprofitable. Only high prices for hydrocarbons at the beginning of the 21st century created the illusion of development and prosperity. All ended when prices for them again dropped to their previous levels. Economists say that more such rises should not be expected in connection with the development of alternative energy sources.

Further in the article, let us recall a little history and consider similar processes in different historical periods.

Russia in the XVII century

Russia in the system of international relations of the 17th century conducted an active foreign policy. Its goal is to "collect" the native Russian lands that have been withdrawn to Poland. In 1569, the Lublin Union was signed, according to which Poland and the Principality of Lithuania are united in a new state - Rzeczpospolita. The Orthodox Ukrainian and Byelorussian population in the new state underwent triple oppression: national, religious and feudal. As a result, this resulted in major Cossack-peasant revolts. After the largest of them - under the leadership of B. Khmelnitsky - Russia enters the war with the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

January 8, 1654 in the city of Pereyaslavl Council (Rada), which was decided on the reunification of Ukraine and Russia. After that, throughout the XVII century, our country defended the right to these territories in the course of constant wars with Poland, the Crimea, the Ottoman Empire and even Sweden. Only towards the end of the 17th century these countries recognized Kiev and the entire left-bank Ukraine in Russia's citizenship, having concluded several peace treaties.

Russia in the system of international relations: the 18th century

In the 18th century, Russia became a powerful European state. This is due to the names of the "Great Rulers": Peter the Great, Elizabeth I the Great and Catherine II the Great. Russia in the XVIII century achieved the following results:

1. Has access to the Black and Baltic Seas. For this purpose, long military conflicts were waged with Sweden and Turkey.
2. The own industry began to develop at an accelerated pace, there was a refusal to import raw materials, many industrial goods and weapons.
3. Russia became the largest exporter of grain.
4. Our country has finally annexed all the lands of Russia. This became possible after the sections (there were several of them) of Rzeczpospolita.

Unrealized goals in the foreign policy of the 18th century

It is worth noting that the plans of our rulers in the XVIII century were grandiose:

1. Creation of a single Orthodox European state, which would include all the Orthodox peoples of Europe.
2. Exit to the Mediterranean Sea. To do this, it was necessary to capture two Turkish straits - the Bosporus and the Dardanelles.
3. Russia was to become a world cultural center, as well as the leading center of world autocracy. That is why our country accepted all the "reigning individuals" of France after their overthrow during the French bourgeois revolution, and also assumed the "duty to punish the upstart" - Napoleon Bonaparte.

Russia in the XIX century

Russia in the system of international relations of the 19th century was involved in the processes of world industrial integration. Until the middle of the century, we still maintained conservatism. We defeated Napoleon, were considered the "gendarme of Europe" and the guarantor of security in the world. However, the leading European countries have already developed along the industrial capitalist path. The backlog of Russia from them grew more and more noticeable every year. Finally, this became clear after the Crimean War of 1853-1856, in which our soldiers were exterminated from a long distance by rifled European guns, long-range guns, and at sea our sailing fleet was destroyed by the newest steamships.

After these events, Russia renounces an active foreign policy and opens its doors to international foreign capital.