Russia in Global Affairs

The use of economic sanctions for political purposes has become a striking manifestation and an important tool of foreign policy voluntarism. At the same time, it is political tasks that have the highest priority.

Everything seems to have changed in Russia over the past one hundred years. The social and economic systems were scrapped and built anew twice, and the political system was overhauled three times. Yet the answers to the main questions “Who is to blame?” and “What is to be done?” remain pretty much the same as before.

It is the common wealth, or the accumulated and permanently growing public wealth that has real significance. A growing national economy as such is a factor of attraction. Broadening markets promise lucrative contracts to any economic partner.

The Russian economy’s preparedness for the world economic growth slowdown cannot be rated on the basis of the reserves accumulated by the state. A reliable mechanism of generating savings and transforming them into investments and competitive projects in the national economy is a vital need.

The Russian authorities have succeeded in easing the consequences of the economic and financial crisis of 2008-2009 for the population. At the same time, the crisis has exposed structural weaknesses of the Russian economy. The stabilization of economic growth and revenue in the first decade of the 21st cen- tury did not lay the groundwork for long-term development.

The developing economies are prepared to join the ranks of key players on the financial markets by strengthening their national market infrastructures; that is, by setting up new financial centers on the basis of their banking systems and stock exchanges, and by diversifying debt securities markets. Shanghai, Dubai and Moscow are new generation centers, to name just a few.

The time has come to discuss methods of international regulation. From an objective point of view, the United States, in crisis conditions, should not be interested in stepping up military-political competition in the world arena, but in productive cooperation, including with Russia.

Chaos, as a general rule, occurs in the most authoritarian overcentralized states, in which the breakdown of central authority causes the collapse of local authority. This pattern is observed in the early 20th century both in the Russian and Chinese Empires; the juggernaut of state administration weakens and literally falls to pieces.