Samenvatting

Ever since the fall of communism Russia has been going through periods of transition. Gorbatchev brought 'glasnost' to the country. Yeltsin brought private ownership, immense freedom but pulled the country into a complete post-communist chaos. Putin restored the sense of order and stability and brought Russia onto the world arena again.

Putin's administration has been highly controversial, especially in the West. He introduced a strategy of 'managed democracy' as well as a new sense of Russian pride and identity, and a strong foreign policy. He renationalised national industries and energy resource production and introduced contentious laws restricting the media, NGOs and the multi-party system. Putin's dogma made him extremely popular in Russia but it also made the Western world apprehensive about the Russian future. Although Putin was helped along the way by stable economic growth at a steady 7% per year and rising oil and gas prices, Russians tend to overlook this and approve of the measures that brought the return of stability and Russia back into the international arena. That in exchange Russians have to miss out on some essential political freedoms does not interest the majority of the population. Of course there are exceptions. For example, the 'intelligentsia' (group of intellectuals) are frustrated by Putin's actions and worry about the unsolved murders of his opponents, such as Anna Politkovskaya and Aleksandr Litvinenko. The intelligentsia are questioning whether Russia is heading towards a new era of dictatorship.