The Putin Debate

Russia is the largest country in the world, in fact it is nearly twice the size of the second largest country Canada. Not only is Russia so vast in size it is also spread over Europe and Asia providing a gateway to both continents.

Russia - 17,075,400 square kilometres
Canada - 9,976,140 square kilometres

Putin has long been a leader that has split the thoughts of the western world because of his political stance and his distrust of governments from other countries.

Recent History of Russia

If we look back at history without going to far back we can see the Stalin regime of the second world war, a regime that is estimated to have killed forty million people (more than Hitler and Nazi Germany).

Post the second world war came the cold war with the Soviet Union and USA playing in competition of military superpowers causing tension across the world. The cold war lasted from the end of world war two to the early nineties when the former Soviet Union collapsed and its satellite states became independent once again.

From the fall of the Soviet era until recent times there had been a period of calm between Russia and western countries, but one man has started to change this....Vladimir Putin.


Vladimir Putin

Vladimir Putin is liked in Russia by the public as he has built up the Russian economy that failed under the break up of the Soviet Union under Boris Yeltsin, but this does not stop leaders outside of Russia watching him with caution.

Putin and Europe

During the row over Andrei Lugovoi who is suspected of poisoning Alexander Litvinenko in London, Putin went on record to say that British proposals were "a relic of a colonial-era mindset". This response was in relation to Britain wanting Andrei Lugovoi to be extradited to the UK for trial, which has caused issues as Russian policy does not allow any extradition of Russian nationals to other countries.

Putin and Russia have also been causing issues for former Soviet countries like Ukraine and Lithuania by stopping the flow of Gas to these countries due to issues with gas pricing.

Estonia has met the wrath of Putin's Russia by seeing cyber attacks happen on various government and prominent sites in the country due to Estonia's decision to remove a Soviet statue of the bronze soldier.

Vladimir Putin is also trying to restore the old Soviet Union view of Russia, one where it is independent and strong. To do this he has restarted cold war tactics like showing military presence world wide through long range bombing runs where bombers come close to the air authority of the UK and other allies.

Putin has also made it clear he wishes Russia to gain influence over its former satellite countries in Eastern Europe like Ukraine, Poland, Lithuania and others even if these countries do not wish for it.

Putin has also started breaking down the pacts signed to stop military build ups on Russia's European border. Russia's view is that as European countries are supporting America by letting them use their land to support a missile defence shield, something Russia sees as a threat, they should be able to defend its borders more closely.

Putin and America

America is wishing to build a missile defence shield that will give a massive protection to America and her allies with Satellites and radar systems making up a huge network that is ready to intercept any threats from rogue States in the middle east.

As you can imagine Vladimir Putin is not happy with this as he sees it as a huge threat to Russia, due to this American and Russian ties have become strained. Due to a mind grown from the Cold war Putin believes America is building the missile defence shield as a way of neutralizing Russia's nuclear potential from a military stand point which is shown through a speech by Konstantin Kosachev (Russian Law Maker) ...

"if the Americans reject Russia's offer under some pretext, we will know for sure that their true goal is not only to stave off a potential threat from Iran or North Korea, but also to neutralize Russia's nuclear potential, which we could have assumed earlier."

Putin on home politics

There is also a belief that under Putin Russia has moved into an autocratic state with Putin controlling a lot of the media and those of the opposition being arrested and in some cases believed to be murdered (this is debated currently).

One thing is for sure, Putin will have to relinquish presidential power next year as Russian Constitution does not allow a president more than two consecutive terms in power. It does seem that Putin has already started putting things in to place to counter this as he is standing for Prime Minister and his party, through Putin, are putting forward someone who is relatively unknown and a friend of Putin's for presidency.

It is believed that the elections are biased and the outcome is already known before it happens with Putin becoming Prime minister and Putin's choice becoming President. Further beliefs are that Putin has rigged this so in four years he will be able to stand as president again while still retaining power over Russia in the interim period.

Summary

Europe and America keep a wary eye on Russia and Putin due to their volatile nature in politics and foreign policy BUT they also keep cordial relationships with Putin and his motherland....maybe the old saying is true, keep your friends close and your enemy's even closer.