When asked to name a Russian leader, the average American citizen is more likely to say Vladimir Putin than Dmitry Medvedev. Indeed, in the cables recently put on WikiLeaks, President Medvedev is characterized as playing “Robin” to Prime Minister Putin’s “Batman” (1). Whether or not this is a fair assessment is up to, and under, quite a lot of debate. As Russia rushes into the 2012 presidential elections unsure which politician will emerge as the ruling party’s candidate, it is interesting to look at the contrast between the two of them. In many ways Medvedev is seen as the “techie” president, a man addicted to gadgets and Twitter, while Putin is the more steadfast, omnipresent figure. While Medvedev proposes and supports many political changes, most of them fare better in the blogsphere than in the legal system. This is proving to be unfortunate as Russia tries to revolutionize its external and internal relations.
In the past few months, Russian diplomats have been busy. Russia has not only met with the European Union and some of its Western neighbors, but also attended a NATO summit and the meeting of the G20. In the meetings with other European countries, Russia laid groundwork for increased trade partnerships and visa-free travel for Russian citizens (though that may be more of a distant dream than a plan as of yet) (2, 3). With NATO, President Medvedev tentatively agreed to a cooperative missile defense shield (4). This is a far cry from the state of affairs during NATO’s conception, when it was intended to counteract the expansion of the Soviet Union. The greatest demand of Russian diplomats attending meetings of the EU and NATO is that Russia “be included” in major decisions and goals more and more; no longer does Russia wish to be treated as an alien entity by the West (2). It would seem that this demand is being met – though perhaps a bit more slowly than the Russian government would like. Russia has also recently signed a significant energy deal with China, once in living memory an enemy, agreeing to the creation of a large oil pipeline from Russia into China expected to play a big part in China’s fuel dependence in the years to come (5). Further energy deals have been signed with Iran, Venezuela, and even France. With these and other agreements, Russia is successfully expanding its influence on the global stage.
Energy has become a growing source not only of international interest, but of national interest as well. An unprecedented deal with BP a few months ago gave the British company rights to untapped oil fields in the North of Russia in exchange for ownership of previously co-owned oil fields elsewhere (6). The deal breathed new life into Gazprom, the main gas company in Russia (still, for all its opening up, government-owned). As Russia develops, it seeks more and more available oil fields. In fact, President Medvedev visited one during late October – the Kuril Islands. Though sparsely inhabited and a point of contention between Japan and Russia, the waters surrounding the islands are known to be oil-rich. Medvedev toured as reigning president, promising modernization (7). Modern utilities, that is, for the inhabitants, and untouched modern oil reserves for companies – if all goes well.
Yet, even while government-owned companies eye reserves of oil in Siberia and beyond, RusHydro (also state-owned) has begun to resurrect itself. During the Soviet era, huge hydroelectric dams were constructed to support a demand for metal-working energy; since then, they have fallen into disrepair. Currently, Russia only uses 20% of its hydroelectric potential (as estimated by the BBC). Just recently, however, the company that owns most of these dams – RusHydro, as mentioned above – has poured money into renovation projects. With these dams running, Russia could turn around its oil-based energy system; hydro power would even be considered not only for internal use, but also as an export.
As Russia grows and endeavors to bring itself into the twenty-first century, a small but energetic environmental movement has developed. Most recently, Russia hosted a summit to organize efforts to save the endangered Siberian tiger from poachers. The multi-day meeting, supported by Prime Minister Putin, ended in positive feelings and a plan to double the present number of remaining tigers (8). The only point of complaint is that the action outlined by the plan may be the better place to focus than the plan itself.
Back at the end of summer, this movement managed to halt completely the construction of a major highway through the Khimki Forest, a pristine natural habitat preserved (so far) between Moscow and St. Petersburg. Due to repeated demonstrations and some very daring reporting, President Medvedev himself ordered the government to stop construction of the road (9). The victory came at a cost – several reporters over the years have been beaten because of their work in connection with the forest. And, in the end, it has turned out to be a hollow one. Despite Medvedev’s grand gesture as a voice for the people, the voice of the legislators has spoken: construction is to be resumed, on the original plan (10). This eventual triumph of bureaucracy over protest, though not by any means unique to Russia, is a setback in the country’s quest for democratic government.
Russia’s president has also been supporting, of all things, that horror most often associated with the internet – freedom of expression. Most recently he has released a video which criticizes the ruling party (the party he is a part of, Putin’s party, otherwise known as United Russia) for dominating the political landscape (11). If the ruling party can not lose, he argues, the leaders lose touch with the people and the party becomes outdated. Incidentally, within the past week the Moscow City Court dismissed a suit filed by Just Russia, one of three opposition parties, which called for a nullification of the recent elections for State Duma on the grounds of corruption. (The election came out as a solid victory for United Russia.) To form a new party in Russia, one must only have a certain number of signatures; but even when the signatures are presented to the authorities, they may chose to disbelieve them. This is not the only such situation to be found in Russian law, unfortunately.
The right to protest, one of the primary indicators of free speech, has been slow to come after the initial promising measures were made –even though, when compared to other measures, the growth in this area has been explosive. In Moscow citizens’ right to protest was increased last month to allow for larger crowds and parades, despite officials’ concern that increased protests would bring increased violence resulting from heated clashes of opinion (12). The success may be mostly superficial, however, since the permit approval process (historically basically impossible to get through for anyone but a member of United Russia) still must be dealt with – just like the party conundrum above. It is loopholes like this that must be closed in order to foster more political expression in Russia; regrettably, however, they are hard to close through legislation alone.
While Medvedev can usually be found supporting these popular movements and revolutionary trade deals and relationships, his stance does not always reflect that of the rest of the Russian government. If one wants to find a politician perpetually supported by the government, one looks to Putin. One must be careful, however, what one says of the governing pair – especially if one happens to be a high-ranking employee of the government (perhaps a mayor, for example). In any case, it is clear that in Russia the desire to transform national politics and policy is strong and well-meant, but often caught up by the hard realism of entrenched politicians and ingrained ways. Given time, I believe the people of Russia will be able to overcome this stumbling block; the only question is, can they do it quickly enough – before they lose hope?
Links to Articles Cited:
1. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/02/world/europe/02wikileaks-russia.html?_r=1&scp=5&sq=russia%20wikileaks&st=cse
2. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/18/world/europe/18iht-germany.html?ref=russia
3. http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/france-says-visa-free-deal-possible-before-2025/420634.html
4. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-11799097
5. http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=15711878&PageNum=3
6. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/29/business/energy-environment/29bp.html?_r=1&ref=russia
7. http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/medvedev-will-visit-kuril-islands-again/421746.html
8. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-11791105
9. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/07/world/asia/07medvedev.html?_r=1&ref=russia
10. http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/kremlin-approves-khimki-highway/425983.html
11. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-11828222
12. http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/gays-win-landmark-rights-ruling/420789.html
