Russia in a Globalizing World - Essay Example

Russia in a Globalising World The world is changing like never before. Globalization is affecting every aspect of peoples’ lives around the world. Itaffects culture, economics, and even politics. We face new challenges and old challenges dressed up in new clothes. Russia is no different. In fact it can even be argued that Russia is one of the capitals or centres of globalization in the world. It has contacts with large parts of Asia and through the old networks and traditions of the Soviet Empire. Indeed, Russia so far has benefited enormously from this period of economic expansion. But likewise, as economies become more intertwined, we find that they can also become more vulnerable to unexpected shifts and new forms of opaqueness. This isn’t a reason to turn away from globalization, but it is a reason to be vigilant. This essay will look at the way Russia has become more dependent on other countries through the process of globalization and it will suggest that this has mostly been for the best. Although the exact moment of globalization occurring in Russia is a debatable question considering the length of Russia’s history and its extensive involvement in world affairs, it could be send that most of the post-Soviet period has been marked by the rapid acceleration of Russia’s integration into the world economy. Boris Yeltsin, Russia’s first post-Soviet leader, led the country through a kind of economic shock therapy that involved deregulating markets, selling off state assets, and making Russia a better place to do business. It took awhile for these changes to help make Russia into a stable place to do business, but this began to happen under the premiership of Vladimir Putin. He was helped of course by rising world demand for Russia’s energy and other commodities. Prices for have been increasing a lot in recent years (before collapsing recently), and this helped Russia look to the rest of the world as a good place to do business. Britain decided to go full steam ahead with economic global integration. Of course, with current economic events shaking the world economy, we begin to see some of the potential negative effects of globalization for Russia. The problems point to one of the serious drawbacks of globalization: when you open your economy up to the other economies of the world you can get very rich as long as they do well—but you also become very vulnerable to their problems too. But in the course of this important debate it is vital to remember the benefits that have come with globalization. These changes have not always been easy, but they have improved life in Russia. There is a real suspicion in Russia about who is behind the global economy and what it means for Russia’s position in the world. Some of these issues were recently written about in a paper for the Carnegie Centre: The first is that Russians believe that choosing democracy implies much more than adopting a political system that allows greater personal freedom and guarantees greater government accountability; it also involves opening up their culture to different ideas and their economy to market forces and foreign competition. Ordinary citizens, although not necessarily all members of the more ideologically motivated elite, welcome greater freedom. But ordinary citizens and elites alike appear leery of the consequences of globalization, of which democracy is part. Their fear of globalization is heightened by the perception that the process is not driven by the impersonal forces of the information revolution and the market, but controlled by the United States as part of a hegemonic project.1 Other countries in the world should do a lot more to try to bring Russia in from the cold and to encourage more democracy in that country. Russians can sometimes be a bit wary of foreigners; it is important to treat them with respect. Some may argue that all of these changes are just a paler version of a longstanding trend towards liberalizing world markets. They might say the turn of the last century showed more dramatic shifts in the world economy, etc. But those changes were happening from a much lower baseline. These current changes are driven by technology our grandfathers and grandmothers could only imagine. In the words of one observers, these changes show, “qualitative differences from that of previous epochs. Most notable are: real-time world financial markets; the speed of economic exchange; the scale of gross economic flows of goods and short-term capital; the institutionalization of economic relations at an interregional level . . . [it is] deeper today.”2 Economic integration has many consequences: some relating to culture and society, some relating to security. If your economic interests are shared, you must share the work in defending them against people who would do you wrong. In many respects the terrorist attack on the United States on September 11, 2001, proved to be a globalizing event, further accelerating changes that were already underway.3 The attacks led to the Global War on Terror and the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq. A broad range of countries settled on a common security policy which involved playing offence rather than defence. The result was a sort of globalized foreign/defence policy that involved countries as diverse as the United States, Britain, Denmark, Australia, Spain and Togo. They came together under American leadership to take a stand against Al Qaeda and enter into long and controversial dialogue about the use of military force in the modern age. This was all certainly part of a trajectory towards greater globalization. Russia, however, stood outside of the alliance and criticized it. This did not improve its integration into the Western security structure. Now with the American building a missile defence system in Eastern Europe, we again see this lack of globalization affecting Russia’s security situation. When it comes to foreign and defence policy, Russia has not exactly been a team player. Nowadays, however, attention has shifted off these foreign security crises and returned to the very structures of economic globalization itself. However, the trust and distrust built up over these foreign policy issues linger in the current economic debate. Countries want to feel like they can rely on their allies in times of crisis. The coolness in the relationship between the United States, for example, and Russia doesn’t bode very well for the countries dealing closely and collaboratively with the current economic crisis. There are Russians who also criticize globalization for creating big differences between the rich and the poor. These people are usually the rear guard of the former Communist elite, but they do indicate a part of popular opinion in Russia. For example, one writer had this to say: Liberal reforms split Russia into a small group of billionaires and multimillionaires on the one hand, and the majority living in poverty, on the other hand. As a result two Russias emerged—a rich one and a poor one, which live in different dimensions, do not understand each other, have different values orientations, which would never find consent and reconciliation between each other. In such situation no consolidation of Russian society can be spoken of. 4 But back to the beginning periods of globalization in Russia in 1990s. There is one further issue which has not been discussed and which is sometimes lost in the great debates over money and guns. Globalization is not simply about economics: it is also about the cultural and social shifts that accompany the reduction in tariff and the easing of travel, communication, and trade. It is about the way people from all across the world can come together to have a conversation and to collaborate on numerous projects and cultural products. Cultural products are commodities too and they can be exchanged more easily in an open marketplace. Economic globalization in the 1990s went hand in hand with the promotion of a new wave of Russian culture which found a receptive audience around the world. Russian pop music was popular in Europe in the Eurovision song competitions, and also the band Tatu made big inroads worldwide with their sassy brand of female empowerment. Many other Russian singers have had their faces splashed across famous magazines worldwide. On the flip side, many American and western cultural products have been brought into Russia recently, for example many movies, magazines, and music. There is a real exchange going on, but of course more can always be done. Globalization is a very complex process with many causes and effects. It is understandable that some Russians are confused or afraid of it. However, it does bring lots of economic benefits. Russia has undergone many changes and many more changes are waiting in the wings as globalization revs up. Works consulted Bilton, T. et.al. (2002), Introductory Sociology, Chapter 3, Globalisation and Modernity, London: Palgrave. Cohen, R. and Kennedy, P. (2000), Global Sociology, Ch. 2, ‘Thinking Globally’, London: Macmillan. Dobrenkov, V.I.. “Globalization and Russia.” Frontiers of Sociology. July 2005. Fedorov, Y.. “Globalization and Democratization in Russia.” Carnegie Paper No.13, May 2000. http://www.carnegieendowment.org/publications/index.cfm?fa=view&id=294&prog=zgp,zru&proj=zdrl McGrew, A.M.. (2005). “The logics of globalization.” in J.Ravenhill ed. Global Political Economy. Read More