Russia’s gradual inclusion in the G-8 was supposed to nurture the growth of democracy, foster creation of a free-market economy, and encourage constructive behavior in international relations. Instead, Russia’s leaders have become more interested in consolidating state power at home and abroad than in promoting democracy, protecting human rights, and cooperating with the West. The collapse of the USSR, President Vladimir Putin has proclaimed, was the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the twentieth century.
Russia’s gradual inclusion in the G-8 was supposed to nurture the growth of democracy, foster creation of a free-market economy, and encourage constructive behavior in international relations. Instead, Russia’s leaders have become more interested in consolidating state power at home and abroad than in promoting democracy, protecting human rights, and cooperating with the West. The collapse of the USSR, President Vladimir Putin has proclaimed, was the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the twentieth century.