Modernisation Challenges and Development

Contemporary analysis involving  ‘modernisation challenges’ considered by the IMF in 2000 loans from the totalitarian school’s state-centric institutional approach to policy analysis. R.G. Gidahubidi’s assessment of Putin’s utilisation of national champion ‘state-run companies’ provided critical sectors a monopoly over natural resources necessary for export influence across Eastern Europe and Asia. The domination of entities such as Gazcom enabled Putin to capitalise on unchecked political authority through integration with the oligarchs in awarding government contracts to friends of the regime. In Weak Strongman: The Limits of Putin’s Power, Timothy Frye concluded that the limits of Putin’s power resided in his ability to control “weak institutions,” suggesting that he embodied the authority of an autocrat extending beyond the jurisdiction of the president. Post-revisionist scholars expand upon this analysis arguing that like Yeltsin, Putin’s relationship with business elites was friendly and illusory. They argued that GDP growth in Russia depreciated between 2001-2015, and has only exacerbated a period of stagnation since sanctions after the annexation of Crimea.

According to Paul Gregory, Putin socialised isolationism as a political and economic standard, claiming to prosper alone than with international liberal institutionalism. However this perspective does not consider this response as something reactionary to possible NATO expansion. Moreover, Putin has diverged normatively with Gorbachev and Yeltsin in seeking to mature Russia without the incentive to ‘buy-into’ Western liberalism. Nonetheless, the anthem’s lyrical change from ‘motherland’ to ‘otchizna’ (fatherland) from Soviet-era lyrics also aimed to reframe the idea of popular will without Marxist-Leninist connotation, suggesting a move toward modernity. However, etymologically, this distinction in Russian is ambiguous, thus, it would make sense to define paternalism as nationalism personifying the Russian homeland. In light of this, the move did little to change the political establishment neglected by Yeltsin and the scope of control by the elites, nor did it deliver the liberal outcomes anticipated by the West. 

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