Russia Flashcards
eleventh-century fortress in the heart of Moscow that has been the historical seat of Russian state power.
Kremlin
successor to the KGB, the Russian intelligence agency
Federal Security Service (FSB)
what is the legislature in Russia? Include upper and lower houses
Duma is the lower house of the Russian legislature, and the Federation Council is the upper house. The Federal Assembly is the Russian legislature.
Russian republic that has been a source of military conflict since 1991.
War in Chechnya
Russia seized it from Ukraine in 2014, increasing hostility between it and the West.
Crimea
the starvation of millions of Ukrainians in 1932–33 as a result of Soviet policies
Holodomor
a system in which power is divided unevenly among regional bodies- for example, some regions are given greater power over taxation or language rights than others, a more likely outcome in a country with significant ethnic divisions
Asymmetric Federalism
main political party in Russia and supporter of Putin
United Russia
successor party in Russia to the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.
Communist Party of the Russian Federation (CPRF)
a small party in the Russian Duma with a social-democratic orientation
A Just Russia
political party in Russia with a nationalist and antidemocratic orientation.
Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR)
a punk band, several of whom were jailed for 2 years on charges of religious hatred.
Pussy Riot
political activist in Russia who has been detained repeatedly for his opposition to Putin and United Russia.
Alexei Navalny
a former deputy prime minister under Yeltsin and an outspoken critic of Putin who was assassinated in 2015.
Boris Nemtsov
southwest Russia, near the Black Sea and Turkey, where there is a diverse mixture of non-slavic peoples with distinct languages and customs as well as a much stronger historical presence of Islam than Orthodox Christianity.
Caucasus
the current leader of Chechnya. Thought by many to be connected to the assassination of Boris Nemtsov.
Ramzan Kadyrov
a process in Russia whereby the former nomenklatura directors of firms were able to acquire the largest number of shares when these firms were privatized
insider privatization
oligarch imprisoned and arrested for his opposition to the Putin administration.
Mikhail Khodorkovsky
Resource trap in Russia
natural resources are a major part of the economy in Russia and owned by the state, running the risk of giving the state and government too much economic power while stifling other forms of economic development.
a loosely integrated body that incorporates many former Soviet republics.
Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS)
the contest between the UK and Russia when they both expanded into Caucasus and Central Asia. Intensified when they both gained control of the Persian Empire.
the Great Game
Is Russia a democracy?
Under Putin, Russia has seen an end to democratic institutions, including limitations on federalism and elections and restrictions of civil society. Today, a democratic ideology has been replaced by a focus on nationalism and militarism.
Track the evolution (devolution?) of the Russian Constitution over the last few Russian leaders’ tenures.
Boris Yeltsin faced a set of political institutions from the previous era when communist leaders were removed by public protests and elections. This led to conflict, and Yeltsin clashed with the parliament. Yeltsin sought increased reforms, but parliament blocked his policies and impeached him, so he responded by dissolving parliament. This allowed him to write a new constitution.
Track the evolution (devolution?) of any true “balance of powers” in Russia during the last few Russian leaders’ tenures.
Putin is an authoritarian leader, meaning that he has little to no checks on his power, so he can mostly do whatever he wants. He has changed presidents’ lengths of tenure so that he can remain in power for longer, and he can jail someone for speaking out against him like he did with Alexei Nalvany. So there isn’t really any balance of power in Russia.
How has post Cold War “national humiliation” led to many in the Russian public supporting a more aggressive Russian foreign policy in the last decade? (See page 392) Give a few examples of this new foreign policy.
The national humiliation after the Cold War led to a more aggressive Russian foreign policy because of the collapse of the Soviet Union. Many countries became independent, and this made the Russians scared because some of them chose to join NATO or the EU.
Former soviet bloc countries joining NATO or the EU
Ukraine and the seizure of Crimea
Use of disinformation and cyber attacks to influence politics
Expansion of NATO
What were some of the negative outcomes of the “shock therapy” abandonment of central planning and privatization in the 1990s? (See page 393)
Hyperinflation
Economy sank
Savings were wiped out
GDP contracted
“men of power” who have their origins in the security agencies and are close to Putin.
Siloviki
Russian people noted for their control of large amounts of the Russian economy (including the media), their close ties to the government, and the accusations of corruption surrounding their rise to power.
Oligarchs
president of Russia from 2008 to 2012; prime minister from 2012 to 2020; current head of the United Russia Party.
Medvedev
a variant of Christianity separate from Roman Catholicism and Protestantism; originally centered in Byzantium.
Orthodox Christianity
Russian word for emperor
tsar
Russian revolutionary who led the 1917 Russian Revolution and headed the Soviet Union from 1917 until 1924.
Lenin
Soviet secret police agency charged with domestic and foreign intelligence
KGB
politically sensitive or influential jobs in the state, society, or economy that were staffed by people who were chosen or approved by the Communist Party.
Nomenklatura
succeeded Lenin as head of the Soviet Union until his death in 1953
Stalin
the peasantry were forced to give up their individual farms and join large collective farms
Collectivization
top policy making and executive body of the Communist Party
politburo
took office in 1953 after Stalin’s death. Wanted reform but couldn’t do it because of party-state bureaucracy and was forced from his seat in 1964 by the Politburo
Khrushchev
rejected reform and placated the nomenklatura by assuring them that their power and privileges were safe. Slowed economic growth and increased corruption
Brezhnev
wanted reform and implemented perestroika and glasnost. Became general secretary in 1985
Gorbachev
“openness,” the policy of political liberalization implemented in the Soviet Union in the late 1980s
glasnost
“restructuring,” the policy of political and economic liberalization implemented in the Soviet Union in the late 1980s
perestroika
president of Russia from 1991 to 1999
Yeltsin
current president of Russia as of 2012; also president of Russia from 1999 to 2008; prime minister from 2008 to 2012
Putin
