Updates

Back to News

Event Summary – Rising Russia: How to Deal with President Putin and His New Russia?

Our most recent event in the Transatlantic Global Agenda series, developed in partnership with American Council on Germany and hosted by Alston & Bird, was a dissection of the current state of Russian politics, titled “Russia Rising: How to Deal with President Putin and His New Russia.” The speaker, Katja Gloger, Editor-at-Large for Stern Magazine and author of Putin’s World: The New Russia, Ukraine and the West, explored President Putin’s actions and intentions, and the implications they could have for the rest of the world.

Gloger spoke of Putin’s plan to “make Russia great again,” even as the country continues to deteriorate in social, political, and economic standing. His persistent hold on the media, aggressive foreign policy, and pervasive propaganda have given him a formidable combination of fame and power. He relies on shows of force to fortify Russia’s strength, and claims “self defense” to win the support of the Russian people.

Putin has developed an authoritarian reign, repressing any signs of dissent in the people in order to maintain unchallenged power. This is not completely without public support, though. There is an unspoken social contract in place as well – if the Russian populations allows for his continued rule, he will also bring them prosperity and higher standards of living. Putin has promoted a sense of hyper-nationalism in an atmosphere of fear to maintain his position of power. The message is always one of vigilance – the people must be on alert for external threats – with the West, and especially America, being the primary villains. This has bred a new Cold War in which “Russian Exceptionalism” sees anything Western as threat to be combatted. Any inclination towards modernization and reform would be a step away from Putin’s ideals, and therefore a step away from his complete power, and thus far has been avoided. He wants political allies not for the sake of political partnership or internal political change, but rather for the benefits to Russia – income from oil and gas partnerships, and an influx of advanced technologies from other countries, such as Germany. So Russia’s relationships with both Germany and the U.S are strained at best, with little hope for improved relations in the foreseeable future.

Quite the opposite, Putin is using the Russian media to make clear that Russian nuclear forces are ready to react to any problem, which shows a willingness to lower the “nuclear threshold”. Russia under Putin’s rule seems determined not to adapt or reform, and they put all of their international relations at risk under that policy. Gloger, however, believes in “the wisdom of the Russian people” and believes they may push for a more positive outcome in the future.