9781422275771

Gorbachev shakes hands with President George H. W. Bush in 1990 shortly after the fall of the BerlinWall.

Gorbachev’s attempts to reform a failing Soviet economy in the 1980s would ultimately weaken Russia’s hold on the Eastern bloc as one republic and bloc nation after another worked to gain in- dependence.After the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, the Russian Federation was born, and a concerted effort began to democratize the government and turn the economy toward amoremarket-based system. The immediate post-Soviet era saw multiple challenges as the transition to a democratic system unfolded alongside tensions between Russia and some of its territories and former Soviet republics, such as Georgia and Chechnya. By the turn of the 21st century, Russia’s economy began to stabilize, even as social issues and political corruption continued to plague the nation. In the era of Vladimir Putin’s presidency, the guarantees of democratic processes enshrined in the nation’s constitution have come under fire from within. Personal civil liberties, such as due process and free speech, have been increasingly limited by executive order.The government retains control over most of Russia’smedia outlets, and state-run industries, agricultural lands, and banks are a common feature of the economy. Even election processes have seen change with the removal of local voting for certain regional governmental positions, in the name of preventing fraud and corruption.

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