US and Russia relations after the defeat of the USSR:
The end of Cold War brought new challenges to Russian life, economy and
politics. Actually, the post-Cold War period opened the new opportunities for
Russia. Democracy made its first steps in the country. After seventy years of
communism Russian people finally got a chance to live how the want, to say what
they want and to do what they want. People got a chance to choose their own
leader, to vote for the Congress members. And it was very confusing for the
country. Russia needed somebody to come out and help in this critical situation.
Probably, the first country to do that was the United States. Russians
"needed and wanted effective advise and technical help from the United States"
(Pickering 102). And the most amazing thing was that the United States didn't
mind and, actually, wanted to help Russia. But why? Why the United States wanted
to help Russians? And I think the answer to that is very simple: the United
States realized that America and Russia must not think of each other as natural
enemies, but must work together to make more peaceful world, even if they were
ready to destroy each other not that long ago. United States needed Russia as a
strong partner in the twenty first century.
Russia went through many changes in its economy since the Russian
Federation took over the Soviet Union. "An economy devoted almost entirely to
the production of military goods was forced to begin to provide what its
citizens demanded, not what its rulers ordered" (Pickering 100). But it wasn't
that easy. Russian government appeared to be unexperienced in modernizing the
economy. Most ...