Russia Globalization
The Economic Intelligence Unit ranked Russia near the bottom of its list of globalized countries, giving it a ranking of 55th among the 60 countries surveyed (St. Petersburg Times, 2010). When the Soviet Union collapsed, there was tremendous hope that the burgeoning trend of globalization would spark a bright future for the Russia. Those hopes quickly faded. Despite its considerable resources wealth, including the world's largest natural gas reserves and 8th largest proven oil reserves (CIA World Factbook, 2011), the country quickly descended into hyperinflation and human misery (Saunders, 2001).
The Putin era has seen Russia only take tentative steps towards globalization, the country remaining mistrustful of the neoliberal ideology that drives the globalization process. Russian nationalism rose as a response to the "alien culture" of capitalism, and has guided Russian policy ever sense (Ponarin, 2004). When the opening of markets increased the level of human misery, Ponarin argues, the response was to shy away from free market capitalism as it became associated with negative outputs rather than the positive ones that most nations see.
Russia is one of the more promising markets in the world, as a populous middle income nation with established distribution channels. It forms one of the BRIC nations that are seen as driving global economic growth in the coming years. Russia is awash with oil and gas, and these resources drive the nation's economy. When oil prices plunged during the global economic downturn, the impact on the Russian economy was severe (CIA World Factbook, 2011).
One of the tentative moves that Russia has made -- albeit very slowly -- is the move to join the World Trade Organization, one of the most important organs of globalization. Russia's accession into the organization has come with reservations, mostly notable about human rights (Mauldin, 2011)....
It is precisely this type of intrusion of the international community on Russia's domestic affairs that has made the Kremlin so skeptical of fully embracing globalization as an ethos. In order to join, Russia has also had to phase out tariffs on a number of goods and waive flyover royalties for international airlines flying over Siberia.
Other issues that have arisen during the WTO accession process that have slowed down the pace of Russian globalization are concerns about Russia's role in regional geopolitics. In recent years, Russia has exerted itself more forcefully in its traditional sphere of influence, including military action in the Caucasus Mountains and more direct involvement in Central Asian and Eastern European issues (no author, 2010). Russia has sought to strengthen its political role in the world, but generally takes its own path, in contrast to the more open spirit of globalization.
Despite the country's reluctance to become significantly involved in the globalization process, Russia is often affected strongly by the impacts of globalization. This is because of the dependence that Russia has on oil and gas for revenues. When the global economic downturn caused oil prices to fall sharply, Russia's revenues decreased, crippling this economy. Similar impacts are felt for example when the euro struggles. Declines in the euro mean a stronger dollar, and that lowers oil prices, which again hurts Russia's revenues (Gilman, 2010).
Kochtcheeva (2010) characterizes Russia's response to globalization as a 'third path', a balance between the Europeanization and Americanization of its domestic policies as a response to globalization. Russia, she argues, is striving for "political, economic and social self-determination." This means that Russia is attempting to build its own reality with as little involvement from external actors as possible. This again highlights the country's mistrust…
