New Trends in the Domestic and Foreign Policies of Putin’s Russia in Early 21st Century (Part 1)

Abstract

The accession to power of Vladimir Putin was a turning point in the history of Russia. At the beginning of the twentieth century, instead of Yeltsin's peculiar model of democracy, an authoritarian regime with Praetorian features was gradually established. During Vladimir Putin's first presidential term (2000-2004), his official speeches traditionally included pro-Western messages. However, in practice, the Kremlin leadership initiated processes that testified completely opposite trends in development of the state. At this time, thanks to legislative changes favorable for the ruling elite, a significant blow to political pluralism was dealt, and the importance of central authorities was essentially strengthened. These events in Russian distorted realities allowed Putin's team to have more control over federal units than authorities of the democratic unitary states have over parts of their state formations. At the same time, using law enforcement agencies pressure, the state leadership established control over the media. At the same time, in the economic sphere, contrary to Vladimir Putin's assertion that “Monopolies are dangerous things in general; especially state monopolies” there was a systematic renationalization due to the purposeful efforts of law enforcement, judicial, and fiscal structures. It was the most pronounced in the energy sector, where Kremlin-controlled Gazprom and Rosneft fundamentally strengthened their positions. Similar processes took place in the automotive, aviation, metallurgical and other industries. As part of the redistribution of property, there was also pressure on foreign business represented on the Russian market. Some of the world's leading energy corporations have been forced to sell some of their shares to Kremlin-affiliated entities. In other cases, foreign companies were revoked permits to operate in Russia under contrived pretexts. The second part will outline the activities of Vladimir Putin and his team, which aimed to strengthen the position of the Russian Federation at the global level, and to increase the influence of official Moscow on the countries of the so-called “Near Abroad”. An attempt will also be made to identify the reasons why, during the first few years of Vladimir Putin's presidency, the trends outlined above were accompanied by pro-Western rhetoric.