If he succeeds, it would be a win in the war between right-wing authoritarian rule and democracy. That’s obviously not good news for Ukraine. This time the price is sanctions that may devastate Russia’s economy.Īfter adopting broad social policies to spread prosperity and defeating Nazi aggression, the victors of World War II thought they had closed the book on land wars that would exploit discontent, overrun nations, extinguish democracies and subject countries to authoritarian rule.īut Vladimir Putin stuck his finger in the pages of history and flipped the book open again to the bad old days. Its example was a threat to the new Russian Empire. Ukraine’s economy developed and it openly considered seeking EU membership.
This push for empire cost Russia a closer relationship with the West. In 2014, he seized Crimea, a part of Ukraine heavily populated by Russians. Responding to popular demonstrations, it adopted home-grown democracy. Russia was revealed as a medium-size economy with a medium-sized population that is only a great power thanks to its huge land mass and nuclear arsenal.Īs Ukraine came under increasing pressure to align closely with Russia, it compared the performance of the EU on its western border and Russia on the eastern side. At the same time, despite having gained improved access to world markets, Russia’s economy grew less than three times. In the West, the EU economy grew between 19 by more than nine times. It appealed to leaders from America’s Donald Trump to China’s Xi Jinping. In the new century, Russia became a flag-bearer for the right-wing authoritarian rule that challenges democratic government. In his pursuit of the Russian Empire, he chose to forego a closer relationship with the West and to reject democracy. He disdained its desire for independence. His prime target remains Ukraine, which he sees as sharing Russian culture. Putin would attempt to draw most of the republics back into a Russian sphere of influence. In 2000, he replaced the hammer and sickle with the imperial eagle as the new symbol for his country. Instead, he would bring back the Russian Empire, a conservative regime. He could not bring back the Soviet Union, because most Russians rejected Communism. He deeply regretted the collapse of the Soviet Union and the loss of his country’s power in the world. Vladimir Putin came to power in Russia in 1999. Historically fearful of invasion from Western Europe, Russia could link its economy so closely to others that war between them would become impossible. At about the same time, Russia joined the club of major industrial powers.The Group of Seven became the Group of Eight.
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