1. After the Cold
War, Part I

2. 4 Post-Cold War periods

3. First Period,
Globalization reaches its peak
Formation of the global neoliberal regime
America’s Unipolar Moment
Russia’s transition crisis
The eastward expansion of NATO and EU

4. Second Period,
Signs of crisis in the global neoliberal order
The Islamist revolt and the start of the US-led Global War on Terror
Russia’s resurgence and alignment with rising powers
Relative decline of US hegemony
The global financial crisis and the Great Recession

5. The rising world disorder, Cold War 2.0
Third Period, 2013-…
The rising world disorder, Cold War 2.0
The Ukraine Crisis: the biggest geopolitical conflict between Russia and the West since the early 1980s
The Middle East:
A new round of intra- and interstate conflicts
Regional geopolitical realignments
Russia’s return as a major independent regional actor
The crisis of the European Union
The growing US-China rift
The nationalist revolt in the US brings Trump to the White House, destabilizes American politics and undermines US global hegemony further
Growing danger of major wars

6. Russia’s transition crisis
Shock therapy: rapid transition to capitalism with enormous economic and social costs
Reduction of the main parameters of Russia’s power
Severe weakening of state authority
Territorial losses
Economic depression (loss of 50% of the GDP)
The decay of military potential
Ideological neutralization

7. Russia’s 1990s:

8. Russia’s Great Depression:
GDP - fell by 45%
Industrial output – fell by 49%
Agricultural output – fell by 32% :
Light industries:
Output fell by nearly 10 times,
Meat and dairy production - by 3 times.
The share of high-tech products in GDP fell
from 45.3 to 25 percent of the GDP.
In 2000, labour productivity in Russia was 5 times lower than in the United States

9. A double blow to the livelihoods of most Russians:
The social impact:
A double blow to the livelihoods of most Russians:
a decline in their incomes and savings
a drastic reduction of social services for which they depended on the state.

10. In 1999, the incomes of over 40% of the population (60 million people) were below the official subsistence level of 1,138 roubles a month, which was the equivalent of about US$40.[i]
The official (government-determined) minimum wage in 2000 was 132 roubles (US$ 4,74) a month.[ii]
The average monthly salary was 2,403 roubles (US$86).[iii] About half of all families with one child lived below the subsistence level.
In 75% of families with three children, each family member had less than a dollar a day to live on.[iv]

11. Explosion of social inequality
In the last years of the Soviet Union, the gap between the rich and poor was estimated to be 4:1
It is usually assumed that if the gap grows beyond 10:1, society becomes unstable
In 1999, the gap in Russia was 15:1, according to official statistics
According to studies done at the Russian Academy of Sciences, the actual gap was much wider:
Total income of the 10% richest households was 44 times higher than that of the poorest 10%.[ii]

12. The world’s billionaires, 2011, Forbes Magazine:
Total – 1,210
US – 412
Russia – 101
China – 95
India – 55
Germany – 52
Brazil – 40
Turkey – 38
Hong Kong – 36
UK – 33
The Wealth Report, 2012:

13. Former Russian billionaire No.1 – Mikhail Khodorkovsky

14. Khodorkovsky’ letter from jail, 2004:
“Russian liberalism has suffered a defeat because it ignored two things: first, some key elements of Russia’s historical experience, second, vital interests of the overwhelming majority of the Russian people. And it was mortally afraid of telling the truth.
I do not want to say that Russia’s liberal leaders set it as their goal to deceive the people. Many of the liberals who came to power with Yeltsin were convinced that liberalism offered the only right solution for Russia, and that a “liberal revolution” was needed in this exhausted country which had historically tasted so little freedom. But they understood this revolution in a very peculiar, elitist way. They cared about the conditions of life and work of those 10% of Russians who were ready to embrace decisive social change and to abandon government paternalism. But they forgot about the 90%. And they covered up their failures with lies.

15. …They deceived most Russians about privatization
…They deceived most Russians about privatization. They gave everyone a privatization voucher, promising that at some point, one would be able to buy two cars with it. Well, if you were an enterprising financial dealer with access to insider information and the brains to analyze it, you would probably be able to buy ten cars with your voucher. But the promise was given to everyone. They closed their eyes to the social realities of Russia, as they carried out privatization. Ignoring the social costs of it, they called it painless, honest and fair. But we do know what the people think of this privatization.
…No fundamental reformation of society is possible without social stability and social peace. But the Russian liberals chose to disregard it and created a chasm between themselves and the people. And they used the information-bureaucratic pump of PR technologies to fill the chasm with liberal myths…”
“Vedomosti”, March 29, 2004

16. Contraction of Russian power

18. NATO enlargement,