A Five Year Development Plan for Russia Essay -- Politics Government S

A Five Year Development Plan for Russia This paper presents a five year national development plan for the Russian Federation. The plan I have created is a culmination of a semester's worth of research on the current state of affairs in Russia. Following a brief review of relevent history, recommendations spanning the course of the next five years will be made in three areas that are of particular concern: economic development, political reform, and the environment. Relevent history and a synopsis of the current situation will preceed the recommendations in each section. Historical Background The pressure to be an industrial and technological powerhouse has left Russia with a skewed development situation. During the Soviet era, money and resources were funneled into the military, research, technology, and the space program. At the same time, basic necessities of the population were essentially ignored. Such high-tech government expenditures were exacted at a great social cost, as the bulk of Russia has remained largely underdeveloped. Russia's modern-day development requires that it focus on domestic issues, and catch up with itself in terms of its advanced industry. The Soviet Union ceased to exist as a political entity in the final days of 1991. From that point on, the Russian Federation was faced with and committed to the daunting task of getting its economy and its politics back on track. With the downfall of communism and the Soviet state came the downfall of both the ruble and the Russian economy as a whole. At its worst in 1992, Russia suffered 2000% inflation. As of 1996, the rate was less than 22% and it has fallen into the single digits in the present day, but the legacy of the monetary crisis has deeply ... ... References Aslund, Anders. How Russia Became a Market Economy. The Brookings Institution, 1995. Boycko, Maxim; Schleifer, Andrei; and Vishny, Robert. Privatizing Russia. The MIT Press, 1995. Filipov, David. The Boston Globe. "As Crises Ebb, It's Time to Get Down to Business; Outlook '97 Russia". January 5, 1997. Frydman, Roman; Rapaczynski, Andrzej; and Earle, John. The Privatization Process in Russia, Ukraine and the Baltic States. Central European University Press, 1993. Goldman, Marshall. Lost Opportunity: Why Reforms in Russia Have Not Worked. W.W. Norton & Company, 1994. Nelson, Lynn; and Kuzes, Irina. Property to the People: The Struggle for Radical Economic Reform in Russia. M.E. Sharp Inc, 1994. Nelson, Lynn; and Kuzes, Irina. Radical Reform in Yeltsin's Russia: Political, Economic, and Social Dimensions. M.E. Sharp Inc, 1995.