Russia and the world

Ever since Vladimir Putin was anointed as the successor to Boris Yelstin in 1999, elections in Russia have become a fait accompli. Putin has won every election by large majorities, most recently winning his fourth term as president with 76 percent of the vote. While Putin is believed to be generally popular in Russia, he has also managed to silence all opposition to him. This time around, Alexei Navalny, considered a formidable opponent, was barred from contesting. Domestically, Putin’s supremacy is unchallenged but as he begins his 19th year in power, he is facing more challenges than ever abroad. International sanctions and the low oil prices have hurt Russia’s economy and there is no sign Europe and the US are about to warm to Putin. He is currently involved in a bitter stand-off with Britain after former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter were critically injured in a nerve agent attack. Given that Skripal was living in exile and another former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko was poisoned to death – believed to be likely by Russia – in London in 2006, suspicion has fallen on Putin. Britain has expelled 23 Russian diplomats and there have been calls for a sporting boycott.

Other EU and Nato countries are also wary of Putin, particularly in Eastern Europe. Russia’s annexation of the Crimea and invasion of Ukraine has worried many that he may be looking to expand eastwards. Relations with the US are more complex, though. Rumours of Russian interference on behalf of Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential elections have led to the imposition of further sanctions on Russian individuals and the role of Russia is now being probed by an independent investigator. The US has also accused Russia of hacking into its electrical grid, and more recently of funding the Afghan Taliban. While Trump has largely maintained the same aggressive policy against Russia as his predecessors, the mood in the US media and among the Democrat opposition is unfortunately mimicking the anti-Russian fervour of the cold-war era. Russia’s greater involvement in the Middle East, particularly the military assistance it has given to Assad in Syria, threatens US hegemony in the region. Given the challenges Putin poses to the US and EU, even the prospect of dealing with him for another six years is unlikely to lead them to soften their stance. Now that Putin has had yet another election victory, there is a danger the two sides will end up becoming more entrenched in their opposition to each other.