These days more and more Western editions are discussing Vladimir Putin and his efforts to consolidate his power and to turn Russia into a superpower and a major player in the international arena.
Not so long ago, Michael Stürmer from Die Welt (Germany) published an article claiming that Putin's Russia strives to become a superpower! What makes the author think so and what are Russia's real chances to become a heavyweight once again? Let's ponder on these questions together…
We must confess that almost any Western editions seems to be focused on Putin and Russia. Die Welt is one of them. Michael Stürmer spend a lot of time and effort to write a big article that raises a number of topical questions. However, the key thesis of his article is that Russia is willing to become a major player in the international political arena. Yet, the author says Russia has already made some major achievements on its way to the ambitious goal.
Firstly, Russia managed to restore its influence on neighboring countries – the CIS. Even Le Temps once wrote that if Russia had lost its influence on the CIS, it would have had to abandon its imperial dreams. They say this is why Russia initiated the creation of the Customs Union. The union is gradually expanding.
The author also says that Ukrain is currently the focus of attention since if it chooses to reunite with Russia instead of the EU, the balance of powers in Europe will shift to the East.
The second major achievement is the consolidation of power in the Middle East. A Russian military base in Tartus means the USA will have to count with Russia when dealing with Syria, Iran and other Middle Eastern countries. Russia is building a nuclear power plant in Iran and has already supplied Iran with new anti-missile systems.
The third big victory is Snowden’s case that disturbed the relations between Western powers. Putin managed to provoke a crisis of confidence and trust among those states. Still, the German author confuses the reason and the consequences since it wasn’t Russia that spied on the rest of the world including top-ranking officials form other sovereign states.
At the very end of his article, the author has to confess that Russia has become a political heavyweight. Still, there are some deterrents to Russia’s ambitions.
Die Welt s convinced that Russia will have difficulty maintaining tis imperial goals since they require a lot of resources, including infrastructure, highly skilled human resources on top of a major guideline…
At the same time, Die Welt reports about the islamization of Russia, i.e. the Russians feel the threat coming from the Islamic parts of the Caucasus. Moreover, they say Russia is afraid of China’s expansion, an overpopulated country that needs more resources to exist properly and feed the booming economy and infrastructure.
The list also includes the weakness of the Russian economy and poor demographic performance. The population of Russia is ageing. As for the Russian national currency, it is also showing sings of weakness against the US Dollar.
According to Masterforex-V Academy, USDRUB broke above the 32,75 level of resistance and came close to 3306, another major level of resistance.
Still, Die Welt concludes that Russia has always been a riddle wrapped in a mystery. Therefore, it is impossible to give any certain preeditions about Russia’s future and intensions.
Still, any country naturally strives to prosper and improve its wellbeing, especially if the country is really big in terms of territory and has abundant deposits of mineral resources. At the same time, it is impossible to create an empire or to become a superpower without economic growth. The Russian economy is greatly dependent on crude oil and natural gas prices.
Still, commodities, including oil and gas, are traded for USD, which creates additional problems for the Russian economy and currency. While Russia certainly has a lot of deterrents and obstacles on its way, Western mass media are barely worth paying attention to since sometimes they behave like children – the bigger the mystery is, the stronger interest they show...
