Russia’s Political System By: Monica Dresnin

What are the Major Issues? Dispute with Neighboring Ukraine Russia is no longer communist, but current political system is considered a Kleptocracy. Russia continues to do business with Iran despite sanctions imposed by the west for attempting to build nuke weapons. Russian Revolution (1917)

The Crimean Crisis: Russia/Ukraine Dispute The Crimean Crisis is the conflict resulting from an international crisis in 2014 involving Russia and Ukraine over the control of the Crimean Peninsula. Ukraine and Russia have been historical enemies/rivals. After Russian Revolution, Ukraine was absorbed into new Soviet Union. Russia was the center of power and treated Ukraine quite poorly. Stalin’s attempt at collectivization of land led to mass starvation and millions of deaths. Old hatreds still linger after the breakup of the Soviet Union. Areas in Ukraine heavily populated by ethnic Russians have been discriminated against and now fighting civil war. Russia backs their ethnic brothers and sisters residing in Ukraine. In turn, Russia faces condemnation from the west, including the US.

What is a Kleptocracy? Russia is no longer communist, but their political system is now considered a Kleptocracy. Kleptocracy, alternatively cleptocracy or kleptarchy, is a form of political and government corruption where the government exists to increase the person wealth and political power of its officials and the ruling class at the expense of the wider population. The Russian president, Vladimir Putin is alleged to be the “head of the clan”, whose assets are estimated at 130 billion.

Russian Relations With Iran  Past and present contact between Russia and Iran has long been complicatedly multi-faceted; often wavering between collaboration and rivalry. The two nations have a long history of geographic, economic, and socio-political interaction. Russia is included in talks because they are selling the technology to Iran to make nukes. Not only is Israel worried about nukes from Iran, but lots of others in the region. The negotiations referenced in this article are basically deals made with Russia to pull back on sales to Iran. USA and others give Russia money to offset and money they would lose by not selling Iran the materials to build nukes. Making deals with Russia is an on-going process! Article: http://freebeacon.com/national-security/iran-russia-boost-nuclear-ties/

The Russian Revolution (1917) In 1917, two revolutions swept through Russia, ending centuries of imperial rule and setting in motion political and social changes that would lead to the formation of the Soviet Union. Most Russians had lost faith in the leadership ability of Czar Nicholas II. Government corruption was through the roof, the Russian economy remained backward, and Nicholas repeatedly dissolved the Duma. In March, growing civiled unrest and constant food shortages led into open revolt, forcing the rejection of Nicholas II (1868-1918), the last Russian Czar. Just months later, the newly installed government was itself overthrown by the Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin (1870-1924).

Russian Revolution Continued… http://www.history.com/topics/russian-revolution Did the Romanov’s survive? This video explains the mystery of what really happened to the Romanov’s. Czar Nicholas, his wife Alexandra, and their five children were taken prisoner during the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917. On July 17, they were reportedly executed, but no bodies were found! Various people started stepping forward claiming to be surviving members of the royal family. The mystery is still on going…

The Crimean War Continued… http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=crimean+war&FORM=HDRS C3#view=detail&mid=19E285BCF85712E6E55519E285BCF85712E6E55 5 The Crimean War was the first major world power conflict in 40 years acted as the birth of modern warfare. It was a team of Britain, France, Turkey, and Austria versus Russia from 1854-1856. Russia had an army consisting of poor Cavalry, poor Infantry, and poor Artillery. On the contrary, the allies had better Cavalry, better Infantry, and better Artillery.

Works Cited Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com, n.d. Web. 05 Nov. 2014. "Iran, Russia Boost Nuclear Ties." Washington Free Beacon. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Nov. 2014. "Middle East." A New Shift in Iran-Russia Relations. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Nov. 2014. "Ukraine Crisis: An Essential Guide to Everything That's Happened so Far." The Guardian. N.p., n.d. Web. "US considering a Nuclear Deal with Iran Reliant on Russia." US considering a Nuclear Deal with Iran Reliant on Russia. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Nov. 2014.