Political+Culture

(O.B.)

Geographic Setting
 * Largest and one of the coldest countries
 * Borders the Black Sea, the Baltic Sea, the Pacific Ocean, the Arctic Ocean, China, and many other vastly different countries
 * Desire to obtain a warm water port by conquering countries between Russia and the sea
 * Cities are located inland
 * Russia's abundant natural resources (oil, gas, timber) are largely locked in Siberia


 * This picture shows that the bodies of water near Russia are far north and very cold, or they are seas that do not connect directly to the Atlantic

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 * This article highlights the reasons why Russia invaded Gerogia including Georgia's resistance to russian rule, Russia history of tension with the Truks, and Russia's want of a warm water port
 * Today, Russia needs a warm water port to retain influence of the shipping of oil and gas from the Middle East to the Western nations
 * Currently, they are the second largest exporter of oil leading to them having a vital interest in the shipping of pertroleum products


 * Whereas before Russia sought a warm water port earlier for shipping of products like textiles and food, they are still seeking one for the exportationg of oil

Eastern Orthodoxy
 * Early in it's history, Russia made ties to Constantinople and adopted the Eastern Orthodox religion
 * Russia valued a strong state that could protect their geographical vulnerabilities
 * The principles of separation of church and state never developed
 * Under Communism, practicing religion was forbidden, but the Russian people still accepted the government's control


 * The Cathedral of St. Basil the Blessed in Moscow, built in 1561, is a Russian Orthodox church that remains as federal property of the Russian Federation

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 * This article discusses the expansion of church over state including the top court's banning of a regional branch of Jehovah's Witnesses
 * Current President Dmitry Medvedev announced an initiative to appoint Orthodox chaplains to all army units
 * This is the first year where public school students have the option to study any religion other than Orthodoxy or none
 * In Russia, you are only considered to be truly Russian if you are also Orthodox; these people call themselves "russki" while those who're Russian but of a different religion are called "rossianie"
 * The church is expanding its horizons with a seminary in France, a church in Thailand, a planned church in Germany, and the Patriarch's trip around Africa this year
 * This article shows how the church is seeking out more power, and how the Russian state is willing to comply
 * As the number of secularists has grown with time, there has been a greater demand for the separation of church and state from the Russian people, but the will of the President and Prime Minister has prevailed over the people's will

Equality of Result (contrasted to equality of opportunity)
 * The value of equality emerged form the Communist domination
 * Russia remains an egalitarian nation where many of its people resent differences in wealth
 * This environment has not been conducive to the development of capitalism



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 * In this article, Russia denounces the US dollar and expresses confidence with their own economic system
 * Russia's economy has recently taken a turn for the worst with the collapse of oil and commodities prices in addition to the government spending billions to defend the ruble
 * Prime Minister Putin remained firm on his point that there should be multiple currencies for the global economy and that we should limit of dependence on the US dollar


 * Despite the economic recession, Russia has refused to change its ways to match that of the capitalistic United States which not only emphasizes Russia's resistance to Western influence, but also illustrates their hostility to the US's system of "equality of opportunity"

Hostility Toward the Government
 * Best illustrated in the people's radical response to Mikhail Gorbachev's idea of //glasnost// (freedom of speech and press) in the 1980s, the Russian people have consistently displayed a hostility toward the government on which they depend
 * Years of repression during the Communist regime have led to a general feeling of resentment toward the government


 * Shown above is an image from a protest against the government's actions taken in regards to the recent economic crisis

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 * 7,000 protestors in Kalinigrad demanded the resignation of Prime Minister Putin and the regional governnor, Georgy Boos
 * All main media sources ignored this protest save for the blogs, the vast majority of whom believe that this protest will help produce positive change in the region
 * The police remained surprisingly friendly toward the protestors


 * In this article, the Russian people are not only protesting the government but also the government-controlled media
 * It also emphasizes how commonplace this type of rally has become because the police are not quick to take action

The Importance of Nationality
 * Long-held stereotypes have caused discriminations based on nationality to develop
 * Russians often revere the Baltic people
 * Russian generally dislike the Muslim-Turkic people whose governments have passed laws discouraging Russians from living within their borders
 * Anti-Semitism, prevalent in tsarist Russia, remains today


 * Above is an image of a national youth group, Nashi, created by Putin to install pro-Russian views into its youth

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 * The number of hate crimes in Russia is increasing, most of them racially based
 * The bias-motivated violence is directed at non-Slavic nationalities and those who defend hate crime victims
 * There has been a sharp increase recently in attacks on migrant workers from Central Asia - countries that used to be part of the Soviet Union - because many are in Russia without proper documentation and risk deportation if they report the crimes
 * Other groups frequented by attacks are Africans, Asians, Jews, Muslims, Roma, and human and gay rights activists caused by neo-Nazi violence
 * As hate crimes increase, the number of prosecutions has failed to rise, and many prosecutors and courts tend to dismiss these types of cases
 * Many political leaders have only recently recognizsed this as a significant problem facing Russian society


 * This article shows how the Russian people are still extremely nationalistic to the point of violence
 * Many old discriminations, such as anti-Smitism, are still strong today
 * The government still has yet to take considerable responsibility for dealing with these crimes