ABSTRACT

Russia is bordered by Azerbaijan, Belarus, China, Kazakhstan, Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, Mongolia, Norway, Poland, and Ukraine. The terrain has a broad plain with low hills west of Urals; vast coniferous forest and tundra in Siberia; uplands and mountains along southern border regions. The birth of the Russian state is usually identified with the founding of Novgorod in A.D. 862, although until 1480 Russia was overrun by the Mongols. The Communist Party held power from 1917 until 1991, during which time Russia became a superpower, having created the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and absorbing some 14 neighboring states between 1922 and 1945. Russia shifted toward a centralized authoritarian state under President Vladimir Putin in which the regime seeks to legitimize its rule through managed elections, populist appeals, a foreign policy focused on enhancing the country’s geopolitical influence, and commodity-based economic growth.