Discussion of difficulties between US and Russian under Putin's Leadership. Economic improvements in Russia mainly in Energy and rebuilding of Infrastructure makes Putin popular in Russia but harder do deal with on World Stage

1. MODERN RUSSIA
HISTORY
TODAY - CLASS 4 -
GORBACHEV TO
PUTIN
Professor - Joe Boisvert 2012/ 2013

2. Authoritarian Regime
 Tamped down by the authoritarian
regime of Vladimir V. Putin. In March
2012, Mr. Putin reclaimed the
presidency for the third time, but his
return to office has not been
welcomed by all Russians and he has
faced an increasingly assertive
opposition movement.

3. Putin’s Russia

4. Putin’s Russia Partial Return to
Cold War Tactics

5. Modern Russian City

6. Putin War Dead

7. Politics Dominated by Mr. Putin
 For more than a decade, Russian politics
have been dominated by Mr. Putin, who
was named acting prime minister in 1999
by the former president, Boris N. Yeltsin,
and then elected president in 2000.
Arising from obscurity, Mr. Putin, a former
K.G.B. officer, proceeded to consolidate
control over almost every aspect of
society and business and marginalize
what opposition still existed

8. Who is the Real Putin

9. The Threat from Russia
 The collapse and reconstitution of the Soviet Union did not lead to its
disarmament.
 Russia still possesses a powerful nuclear arsenal-thousands of land-based
intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), sea-launched ballistic missiles
(SLBMs), and sea-launched cruise missiles (SLCMs), armed and targeted at
the United States.
 Moreover, Russia continues to modernize and expand this arsenal despite
its economic problems and perceived military weakness.
 In recent years, reports have indicated that security at Russia's
nuclear/missile facilities is breaking down, thus elevating the chances that a
warhead or missile will fall into the hands of terrorists or rogue military
elements..
 Finally, Russia is among the world's most rampant proliferators of missile
technology. For these reasons, Russia's nuclear and ballistic missile arsenal
remains the single greatest strategic threat to the United States.

10. Breakdown of Russian Arsenal
and Proliferation
In addition to the threat of a conventional Russian nuclear
attack, the United States is also threatened by negligent
security at Russia's nuclear/missile facilities, as well as
rampant proliferation of ballistic missile technology and
expertise to rogue nations and terrorist-sponsoring states.
The security of the Russian nuclear arsenal constitutes a
serious threat to the United States. Should a missile or
warhead get into the hands of rogue elements of the
Russian military, a launch is possible.
Former Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara has
warned as recently as April 2004 that a nuclear attack from
Russia is a very real scenario today, whether by accident
or intention.

11. Nuclear Attack from Russia is a
Possibility
 Former Secretary of Defense Robert
McNamara has warned as recently as
April 2004 that a nuclear attack from
Russia is a very real scenario
today, whether by accident or intention.

12. Russia Still Dangerous
Even a benign Russia that miscalculates can destroy America in less
than half an hour.
Moreover, there remains the possibility that a loose Russian WMD
might fall into the hands of Islamist terrorists,
Some possible dangerous places are those operating in Chechnya
and the former Soviet republics in Central Asia.
In May 2004, the head of the Russian Federal Security Service
(FSB), stated his concern that these terrorist organizations could gain
possession of loose Russian nuclear weapons, as well as other
WMDs.

13. Russia and US War of Words
Russia and the United States are clashing over a series of
difficult issues: the American deployment of a missile defense
system that Mr. Putin considers a threat
Pending legislation in Congress that blocks visas and freezes
assets of Russian officials linked to human rights abuses
Statements from the State Department about the protests that
greeted Mr. Putin’s inauguration that left the Russian leader
fuming.
But the biggest irritant of all right now is Syria, a longtime ally of
Russia

14. Putin blasts "imperialism," says Russian
missile test was response to U.S. moves
 MOSCOW — President Vladimir Putin said today
that tests of new Russian missiles were a
response to the planned deployment of U.S.
missile defense installations and other forces in
Europe, suggesting Washington has triggered a
new arms race.
 In a clear reference to the United States, he
harshly criticized "imperialism" in global affairs
and warned that Russia will strengthen its military
potential to maintain a global strategic balance.

15. Bush flies into missile storm
with Putin
 President George Bush yesterday flew to
Europe where he will confront Vladimir Putin
over US plans to base a new missile defense
system in former Russian satellite countries.
 The White House described as unhelpful a
warning by Mr. Putin that if the US goes
ahead with its plan, Russia will retaliate by
training its missiles on European targets

16. Putin Accuses US of Being Like
Nazi Germany
 in recent weeks Mr. Putin has likened the Bush
administration to the Nazis and accused the
US of trying to take over the world.
 The Russians will also be incensed by Mr.
Bush's visit to Prague yesterday and to Poland
on Friday, with the missile defense plans the
key issue under discussion.

17. Moscow threatened to target its
missiles at Europe
Bush and Putin G8 Putin vs. George W. Bush
 U.S. President George W.
Bush (left) and Putin at the
G8 summit in June (AFP)
 This was the year Vladimir
Putin implicitly compared the
United States to the Third
Reich. It was the year
Moscow threatened to target
its missiles at Europe and
was accused of carrying out a
cyber-attack on a NATO
member. It was the year
Russia pulled out of a key
arms-control treaty and
resumed strategic-bomber
patrols

18. Putin Voices Pessimism on Missile Defense
June 21, 2012 :: The Moscow Times :: News
President Vladimir Putin said he does not believe that the United
States and Russia will manage to resolve their disagreements
regarding the U.S. missile defense shield in Europe no matter
who the U.S. leader is.
Speaking Tuesday at a news conference at the G20 summit in
Los Cabos, Mexico, Putin said he saw no sign that the U.S. was
ready to change its approach to the system, which Russia
believes could threaten its nuclear deterrent.
"I think the problem of the missile defense shield will not be
solved regardless of whether Obama is re-elected or not," Putin
said, Interfax reported.

19. Russia is America’s biggest strategic
threat.
The renewed tensions come as the United States is heavily dependent on Russian
cooperation for its military operations in Afghanistan.
With Pakistan cutting off supply lines to Afghanistan, the so-called northern distribution
network through Russia is the primary reinforcement route for America’s war on the
Taliban.

20. The assassination of Anna
Politkovskaya
Anna (born in 1958), the Russian
journalist, writer and human rights activist, took place
on Saturday, 7 October 2006. She was well known
for her opposition to the Chechen conflict and
criticism of Russian President Vladimir Putin ]She
authored several books about the Chechen wars, as
well as Putin's Russia, and received numerous
prestigious international awards for her work. Her
murder, which occurred on Vladimir Putin's
birthday, was widely perceived as a contract killing
sparking a strong international reaction.

21. Anna Politkovskaya murder
case

22. •A week after the assassination, Alexander Litvinenko
accused Putin of sanctioning the murder.
•Two weeks after this statement, Litvinenko was poisoned
by the radioactive polonium.
Two days before his death on November 24, 2006, he
wrote a statement, in case he "does not make it". He said:
"Name the bastard. Anna Politkovskaya did not do it, so I
will, for both of us.
You may succeed in silencing one man but the howl of
protest from around the world will reverberate,
Mr. Putin, in your ears for the rest of your life. May God
forgive you for what you have done, not only to me but
to beloved Russia and its people".

23. Other journalists in the country, she
says, fared much worse. Several journalists
were murdered, including Anna
Politkovskaya, who was writing about
Chechnya.
"She had run afoul of ... the Putin government
and was murdered six years ago on Putin's
birthday," Gessen says. "There are conflicting
theories as to who murdered her. It certainly
didn't have to be on Putin's orders. But what I
argue is that Putin has created a system in
which people who run afoul of the government
know that they are living with a constant threat
to their lives. At this point we are living in a
situation where physical attacks on critics of

25. Russia: Cold War Lite

26. BP OFFERS TO INCREASE ITS
STAKE IN ROSNEFT
 By ANDREW E. KRAMER
 MOSCOW - BP has offered to
acquire a bigger stake in the Russian
state oil company Rosneft if it can sell
its interests in a private joint venture
here, the president of Rosneft said on
Friday. Such a move would make BP
the largest single outside investor in
Rosneft.