Russias new leader (International Relations) - Essay Example

Under Putin, Russia began consolidating itself after the traumatic experiences of moving to a market economy and losing ground in Europe. Thus, the recent presidential elections have again raised the specter of nationalism and a call from the president elect, Medvedev to the Russian people to help him regain Russia’s past glory. This paper takes a look at what the Russian elections of 2008 mean for Russia and its quest to regain its past glory. I also take a look at what kind of leaders are Medvedev and Putin apart from examining the Russian-Georgian conflict and the way in which Putin handled the same.

According to Stratfor, a website devoted to geo-political affairs, “Despite ongoing demographic, economic and geopolitical problems, Russia is using every political and economic — and, increasingly, military — tool at its disposal to reassert itself in the former Soviet Union and try to rake back its former geopolitical position” (George Friedman, 2008). This has been accompanied by a string of actions ranging from going to the aid of South Ossetia and flexing its muscles over the missile deployment in Eastern Europe.

The fact that Russia is on the ascendant and is likely to play a prominent role in the great power equations of the 21st century has been noted by other commentators as well. “If Russia was where history most dramatically ended two decades ago, today it is where history has most dramatically returned. Russia’s turn toward liberalism at home stalled and then reversed, and so has its foreign policy. Great power nationalism has returned to Russia and with it traditional great power calculations and ambitions” (Robert Kagan, 2008).

Thus, ever since Putin began consolidating powers in the presidency, there has been a marked shift in the tone and attitude of Russia towards the world. This is in line with the expectations of the Russian people who want to return to their days of glory as a