Suchergebnisse

Russia's reactions toward the US plan for deploying a national missile defense system & strategy for renegotiating the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty are studied. An overview of the former USSR's ballistic missile defense research & technology & implementation of such a system around Moscow is presented. It is claimed that Russia's diminished status as a global superpower has severely decreased its capacity to maintain the ABM Treaty in its current state. A review of Russia-US arms control summits during the late 1990s illustrates both nations' concerns with other countries' creation of long-range ballistic missiles. It is stated that renegotiating the ABM treaty provides the best-case scenario for present-day Russia & that allowing the US to withdraw from the agreement would damage future possibilities for Russia-US cooperation. In addition, it is speculated that renegotiation could lead to both nations' collaboration in creating a joint missile defense system. It is concluded that Putin's overt acknowledgment of ballistic missile threats has probably compromised Russia's ability to preserve the original stipulations of the ABM Treaty. J. W. Parker

Popular, competitive elections are a component of the democratic process, but they alone do not constitute a democracy. The first somewhat competitive election in the Soviet Union in 1989 marked the beginning of a trend toward political liberalization & democracy. Since then the Russians have voted for their chosen candidates many times, although only a small percentage of the adult population participates. The elections, on all levels, have been held as prescribed by law, though the first founding election for a new political system under a new constitution did not take place until December 1993. The campaigns & outcomes of the Gorbachev, Yeltsin, & (the first) Putin elections, & the corresponding parliamentary elections, are described. Under Putin, the elections still perform a quasi-democratic function, but they are now controlled by state institutions that have the ability to falsify the outcomes in favor of Putin-supported incumbents. J. Stanton