Russian Foreign Policy
Курсовой проект - Экономика
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ticians encourage their governments not to "stand on ceremony with Russia" and to pursue policies without regard to Russian national interests. As Zbigniew Brzezinski once said, "a country with an economy the size of Holland, ought not to think about geopolitics." (Brzezinski, Power and Principle, p. 293.)statements are extremely short-sighted and do not correspond to the realities of world politics which are taking shape. It is no accident that the West itself, recognizing the potential political weight and economic strength of Russia, has included it (not Brazil, not Indonesia or even India and China) in the "Group of Eight", ie the eight leading countries of the world. However, in this case other factors has played a role: an understanding by Western leaders that without participation of Russia it is impossible to solve many problems of global security and development as well as their desire to turn Russia into the community of democratic states. In its political significance, intellectual power and influence on the course of world affairs, including as a permanent member of UN Security Council and the consequent liability status, Russia remains one of the great powers. In addition to this, as well as the geopolitical and geostrategic position, making Russia a "axial region of the world", and the presence of nuclear weapons (and in this area Russia is actually the second "superpower" of the world), the main features, enabling under current conditions to consider Russia great power, are the opportunities and prospects in the field of resource provision, rather productive and intelligent population which to this day possess a high scientific and technological capacity and several others.are the factors, i.e. size of the country, its technological capabilities and human capital, the availability of virtually all types of raw materials and resources, an objective (but until now only potentially) that make Russia one of the major world centers. Equally important for the positioning of Russia in the modern world is the fact that it has a solid historical capital, of course, if it considers itself heir of millennial Russia. Of course, all these positions are not provided automatically. They might be lost if the country in the coming years does not overcome the deficient raw material orientation of the economy and move to an innovative type of development. On the contrary, capabilities of Russia to provide high quality lives of citizens and to influence the course of events in the world will be expanded under condition of successful solution of these problems posed by the political leadership of Russia. As for the index of competitiveness, the WEF used, they are certainly not absolute and may be applied to all countries with the same yardstick. Large countries such as China, India, Brazil, France, Russia can not be defined as competitive under the same criteria as, for example, Estonia and Switzerland. For large countries much more important issue is the preservation of nationally-organized society (the state), i.e. organic integrity of the system, which takes much of the national economic and political resources. Such a system has special properties that can not be deduced from the properties of individual elements. More precisely, its objectives can not be the resultant of the objectives of individual elements:these are the own goals of the system.conclusion is that for large countries, which include Russia, the national competitiveness includes the countrys ability to maintain their subjectivity in the context of globalization. For Russia this means the need to remain one of the worlds centers of development, one of the great powers of the world leaders in twenty-first century. This seems to make sense and it is assigned as the task of Russian political leadership - to bring Russia into a the number of these world leaders. However, solving of this problem requires serious measures that would ensure preservation of Russia "core self" - a set of machine-building industries, capable of a modern technological basis to reproduce themselves and play the other branches of engineering, is not involved in self-development, especially for the defense industry, the growth of human capital - the quality and quantity, and strengthening social cohesion, foreign support for the position of world leader (open and hidden).main thing is that this problem requires policy makers, with the horizon of vision that goes beyond the election period. Competitiveness is a complex phenomenon, for the understanding of which the standard univariate approach s not applicable. It is necessary to create a competitive advantage of a high level. At the same time an abundance of traditional factors of production is not a sufficient condition for long-term success, only the constant innovation and increasing productivity are critical conditions of the countrys competitiveness. The competitiveness of goods and services is understood as the ability to sell them at market prices with a normal profit. External competitiveness is mainly supported by the Russian oil, gas and metals.of its finished products, except weapons, are not competitive on world markets. With the products available the position of Russia holds partly in the CIS markets. Exports of services does not match the scale of the economy. As for the internal competitiveness, what was preserved to date in the domestic economy produces goods that are competitive in the domestic market. Adapting to the market conditions has occurred at a high price. But the prospects in general are not very optimistic it is impossible to accept the the current state. Vigorous efforts are needed in order to make a difference. Russia is one of the richest countries in the world on natural resources. Thanks to them this state now has an excellent balance of trade and can offer competitive commodity and energy prices on the world market. And this is meant for the long term: the high share of exports of such kind of goods would be characteristic for Russia forever. But in this situation has its drawbacks: the dependence on the situation of unstable world markets and, more importantly, the weakening of incentives for the development of innovative economy, the structural and institutional changes that are important to maintain a high level of adaptability and the development of the countrys citizens.the workforce and human capital Russia is in a relatively favorable position: it posses the high level of education combined with staff being unpretentious regarding pay level and working conditions. But at the same time there are usually claims to the discipline and rigor in execution of work. The demographic crisis will eventually increase the shortage of labor which would require the involvement of migrants. Free labor would not be available, competitiveness on the labor market should deteriorate. This means that large-scale investment projects aimed at increasing production, will experience difficulties with staffing or will introduce them in other sectors. Russia is doomed to rely on increased productivity and efficiency. Capital usually goes to the sectors which are considered attractive - oil, gas, trade, real estate, and even then subject to the availability of suitable borrowers or recipients of investment, credible, and those who are inclined to cooperate. In order to diversify it is necessary to investment in other sectors which are non-competitive and risky today, which often have to deal with non-cooperative behavior with people who are not ready to exchange controls on investment. Market mechanisms of capital overflow, which are virtually absent in Russia are in these cases prove themselves to be ineffective. The paradox is that the country needs large investments to upgrade but now is not able to accept and apply them in best possible way. In contrast to the recent past, when there has been a lack of financial resources, currently are growing risks of inefficient and insecure investments, pushed by the pressure of liquidity including the influx of petrodollars. At the same time, Russia today possesses basically just "short" money. "Long" money needed for large-scale long-term projects, including infrastructure, are not yet available and the national institutes of savings such as pension funds, insurance companies, etc. are just being formed. Capital formation in them will take at least ten years. It takes time for the development of financial intermediaries and to inculcate the culture of massive medium-sized investments to the public. The lack of a "long" money makes the large-scale foreign investment an appropriate involvement in the modernization of industry therefore providing them with a competitive investment climate. An increase in the use of these resources, including the capital itself, as happened in the past, will not provide the rapid growth and competitiveness. The main competitive advantages of the Russian economy are, in addition to natural resources and sufficiently educated and skilled labor force, the accumulated scientific and technical capacity, transport capacity, transit capacity, relatively large domestic market. However, the existing competitive advantage has not only failed to develop, but also degraded as a direct consequence of the destruction of the old economic system and the incomplete transition to a new one. And yet expert assessments of Russian competitiveness are overly pessimistic, and reflect to a large degree only personal views of experts. The country has a set of economic, social and political factors, reflecting the accumulated competitive potential, its material and intellectual wealth, and therefore Russia should define a strategy for enhancing competitiveness and to develop a mechanism for its implementation. In order to improve the competitiv