Globalisation in Russia : The Challenge of The Transition to The World Economy

Globalisation in Russia : the challenge of the transition to the world economy

Fifteen years ago, the Soviet Union was a socialist authoritative country, tightly isolated from capitalist countries. Nowadays, its direct heir, Russia, is one of the most quickly growing markets of the world, strongly open on the global economy.

During the 1990s, Russia underwent an extraordinary transformation from a communist dictatorship to a multi-party democracy, from a centrally planned system to a market economy, and from a belligerent enemy of the West to a cooperative partner. This change was as unexpected as exceptional: two decades ago, only an idealist would have imagined the “evil empire” to transform so quickly and peacefully into a democratic and capitalist ally of the West.

The unprecedented nature of this switch raises the question of the role of globalisation in Russian transition to market economy. The process of globalisation can be understood as the interplay of technological, economic, and political changes, leading to new patterns of trade and investment in the world. As the British-born sociologist Michael Mann puts it, “the term of ‘globalisation’ refers to the extension of social and economic relations over the globe”. The whole planet becomes embroiled in a single set of social and economic relations.

How globalisation fastened the transformation of Russian economic system? What have been the consequences of this process? What relationship has Russia today with global economy? These are the main issues of this study.

After sixty years of self-sustaining socialism, the Russian entry to this global phenomenon was doubtlessly difficult. The post communist transition transformed not only the country’s economic and political systems but also the state-society articulation at large.

If the disappointing economic results of the first decade of transformation are often understood as results of Russia’s opening in the context of globalisation, it also seems that it is globalisation itself which enabled the Russian recent growth. Beyond this debate, the current Russian position as regards the global system has also raised to a major issue.

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I. From transition to crisis: the difficult adaptation to the global economy

 The evolution of Russian economy in the 1990s

The economic causes of the downfall of the USSR

The suddenness of the disappearance