Putin’s Moscow: Russian Economy and the Strategy

Moscow’s sputtering economy is already smaller than Italy’s. Two decades ago, a virtually unknown former K.G.B spy took power in the Kremlin on December 31, 1991. President Vladimir V. Putin and Russia have just had what might be their best year yet.

The United States was an implacable foe of Russia during the cold war. Now United States President Donald Trump is determined to get along with Russia. Nevertheless, impeachment distracted and convulsed him. The other central pillar of the trans-Atlantic alliance that Mr. Putin worked to undermine for years is Britain. Now, the country is turning inward voting for a government that promises to exit the European Union by the end of January.

The Middle East has increasingly tilted towards Moscow. There are some factors why it happened; Moscow provided Turkey with advanced systems of a missile; it turned the tide of war in Syria and signed contracts with Saudi Arabia with millions of dollars. Nevertheless, Saudi Arabia is America’s closest ally in the Arab world. Another longtime American partner, Egypt, also has a close relationship with Russia. Russia became a key player in Libya’s civil war. The country is moving towards an alliance with China.

In 2014 former United States President Barack Obama dismissively judged Russia. He described Russia as a regional power capable of threating its neighbors out of weakness, not out of strength. There is a question: How has Russia, which is so vast that it has 11 time zones, but the very scarce economy became such a potent force?

Putin’s Russia

Granddaughter of the Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev and a Russia expert at the New School in New York is Nina Khruschcheva. She said that the same question was asking everyone when the Soviet Union collapsed. She described Putin as a master of secrets, an exhibitionist, a religious zealot, and a technocrat. You expect from him something, and he does entirely something else, she added.

A Kremlin adviser Vladislav Surkov wrote in a Moscow newspaper that Russia is playing with the West’s minds.

Politician experts say that Putin can present his country and himself as standing far taller than they are.

A Former United States ambassador, Michael McFaul, said that Putin is holding small cards, but he is not afraid to pay them. The President of Russia also said that the question is not how much power a person has, but the answer is to use a power person has in the right way.

America’s economy is ten times bigger than Russia’s. Russian economy just grew up with 1 percent this year.

Nevertheless, Russia is a lodestar for aspiring autocrats and autocrats around the world. These leaders altogether now deploy the tool which can disrupt a world order once dominated by the United States.

In 1997 Mr. Putin delivered a speech in Munich. He said that the U.S. brings the abyss of one conflict after another, and no one can feel safe.

But the real turning point happened a year later with the global financial systems meltdown. After that, it figured out that America is not running the global economic system.