Russia’s Rampant Corruption Major Cause Of Crimean Crisis

Russia’s Rampant Corruption Major Cause Of Crimean Crisis

Russia’s rampant corruption seems to be an indirect cause of the recent Crimean crisis that ended with the annexation of the former Ukrainian province. Once considered a domestic problem that Russia’s government and NGO’s have to deal with, it seems that corruption has created a catastrophically economic situation in the country, leading to an aggressive foreign policy to keep voters satisfied.

When Russia’s most powerful and corrupt oligarchs started transferring their money in Swiss bank accounts or buying expensive luxurious properties in Western Europe, EU governments wrongly assumed that this is a step towards peaceful relations between the former soviet nation and the Union as well as a way to hold Russia’s governing class more responsible.

The EU’s mistake was a large one, with Russia’s corruption being one of the main causes of the Crimean crisis. After economic growth in the last decade slowed down, investments that were meant to keep the economy moving failed to materialize due to the dictatorial regime and lack of financial and social security adopted by the ruling class.

When voters couldn't be convinced to keep the current oligarchy in power by means of economic growth then repression, propaganda and territorial expansion were the ways the current corrupt dictatorship chose to keep its popularity up.

Posted by James Fried on Friday April 04 2014, 3:49 AM EST. Ref: ft. Link. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Featured News, World. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0