Vladimir Putin's Violent Crime

Vladimir Putin, is to some a violent criminal, but to others he is a God. Since becoming Prime Minister of the Russian Federation on the 9 August 1999 – 7 May 2000, Putin has been a man who wields a substantial amount of power. Further serving as President from 7 May 2000 – 7 May 2008, again as Prime minister from 8 May 2008 – 7 May 2012 and started his current Presidential term on 7 May 2012, Putin has in some form or another played a huge role in rebuilding Russia after the fall of the Soviet Union. To many, Putin is simply a power hungry demagogue, wishing for the Soviet Union to be reborn, but to some, he is the savior of Russia. Russia is now once more a formidable nation with no fear of the West, a proud nation with a high Nationalist

With something that resembles a cult of personality, Putin has managed to control the media and even influence the very thoughts of Russians-even now through the harsh sanctions on Russia, and Vladimir Putin still possesses a popularity rate of 89.9 % amongst Russians. Hobbes highlights this in the social contract theory-the people place consent in the government to rule and protect them, at the cost of civil-liberties. With the detention of oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky and the many assassinations of many critics and several prominent opposition voices, Putin’s Russia was already a place where dissent was not particularly welcome. Under Putin, civil-liberties and liberties in general have been reduced a serious amount. New laws passed since 2012 brought about serious consequences for not following the rules of protesting correctly, a slew of arrests on opposition leaders and critics of Putin have also happened in Russia, fully confirming Hobbes’

Plehve, Russian Minister of the Interior. This is also known as Diversionary Foreign Policy, and is a tactic often employed by Putin’s Russia.

An iron fisted rule has however brought many benefits for Russia. The 2008 Financial Crisis and then the sanctions placed on Russia from its involvement in Georgia in 2008 and the annexation of the Crimea in 2014 indeed strained the Russian economy, however the Russian economy has risen drastically since 2006-although it now faces a much slower economic growth. Once more, Putin’s tight grip on power; alongside the Autocratic/Oligarchic members of the Russian elite have allowed Putin to broadcast his success far and wide in Russia, further strengthening the Social