Browsing by Subject "Russia"

With a tight grip on its political and media landscape, Russian authorities have a history of strictly managing the country’s information space. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has generated an extra element to consider when conveying a message of effective governance. In order to provide insight in the Russian authorities’ response to this novel cross-border challenge, this thesis examines the framing of the COVID-19 pandemic in Russian foreign policy parlance. It does so by analysing strategic communication efforts and the usage of threat or enmity images therein by the Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev and the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MID RF). To this end, the thesis built on principles from Political Discourse Analysis, which investigates the (re)production and challenging of political power through political discourse. In order to identify the representations of COVID-19 in foreign policy rhetoric, the research made use of the analytical unit of the ‘script’. With the help of the latter, it is possible to recognise which collective understanding is at the basis of the rhetoric that is communicated, i.e. the master narrative. In total, 63 texts were examined. Via analysis of this empirical corpus, 7 scripts were found, which are the ‘Us vs. Them’-script, ‘the West as both a weak and aggressive actor’-script, the ‘politicisation of the pandemic’-script, the ‘promotion of multipolarity’-script, the ‘necessity of international cooperation’-script, the ‘legitimation of the authority of the UN and WHO’-script and ‘Covid-19 as an equaliser’-script. On the basis of these scripts, a master narrative emerged, which declared that Russia, as a geopolitical actor, is actively pursuing a stable and fair world order, but which is at the same time a blameless victim of adversity and enmity. This is in line with previous research on Russian strategic communication and threat perception. Understanding the manner in which this master narrative materialises in foreign policy parlance assists with the interpretation of the general goals the Russian state pursues via its interaction with other states and international organisations.

Karelia has numerous questions regarding to whom its soul belongs with accompanying loyalties, identities and senses of belonging. Underlying assumptions may affect personal, political or business perceptions. Through explorations in discourse through selections of memory, ontology and reality we examine the necessity to rethink perceptions about Russian and Finnish relations as seen in the Karelian borderlands. Further, addressing how Karelia is constructed in Soviet literature and more contemporary opinion. Discourse from two periods of time is digested to reflect on the nature of knowing, remembering, learning and realizing. I include Soviet novels from 1940s to the 1980s about Karelia and newspaper letters to the editor and editorials from 2000 to 2015 to serve as gauges of perceptions and time periods. The discourse is examined for patterns and evidence of perceptions. The examined discourses suggest there is a disconnection between knowing and experiencing. Evidence is seen through government steering committees in Soviet literature and in memory and political exposure in popular opinion. Communicative acts in Soviet literature and published opinion pieces show how Karelian discourse can be affected. By addressing these perceptions we create opportunities to develop more realistic knowledge to aid in personal, political or business relations.

Tässä maisterintutkielmassa tarkastellaan Venäjälle kohdistuneiden matkustajavirtojen sekä Venäjän viisujärjestelmän kehitystä vuosina 2002–2019. Tutkielman tavoitteena on ollut koota Venäjään kohdistunut matkailukehitys ei-IVY-maista yhdelle paperille, jotta aineistoa voitaisiin tarkastella Venäjän ulkopolitiikan muutoksen näkökulmasta. Tämä maisterintutkielma ehdottaa matkustajavirtojen sekä viisumijärjestelmän toimivan hyvänä indikaattorina valtioiden ulkopoliittisesta muutoksesta. Tutkielman aihe on ajankohtainen, sillä tilastoja Venäjän matkailusta ei ole englannin kielellä koottu kattavasti koherenttiin kokonaisuuteen, ja toisaalta vuonna 2019 Venäjän toteuttama sähköinen viisumireformi tekee aiheesta ajankohtaisen. Vuoden 2019 Venäjän sähköinen viisumireformi on osa historiallista jatkumoa, minkä takia on mielenkiintoista tarkastella viisumireformia edeltänyttä ajanjaksoa osana laajempaa kehityskaarta Venäjän viisumi- ja ulkopolitiikassa. Tässä tutkielmassa aineistona käytetään Venäjän valtiollisen tilastokeskuksen kokoamaa aineistoa Venäjälle kohdistuneesta matkustuksesta vuosina 2002–2019 sekä erityisesti Oxfordin yliopiston koostamaa DEMIG Visa -dataa globaalista viisumikehityksestä. Tämän lisäksi Maailmanpankin, UNWTO:n sekä Maailman talousfoorumin aineistoja käytetään hyväksi Venäjän matkailukehityksen kokonaiskuvan kokoamisessa. Tutkielman tilastoanalyysin teoreettisena pohjana käytetään ulkopolitiikan muutoksen kategorisointiin luotuja teoriarakenteita esimerkiksi K.J. Holstin sekä Charles F. Hermanin toimesta. Tutkielman tilastoanalyysin mukaan eurooppalaiset valtiot ovat menettäneet merkitystään Venäjän matkailusektorilla vuosituhannen vaihteen jälkeen ja erityisesti 2010-luvulla. Tutkielman tilastoanalyysi osoittaa, kuinka esimerkiksi Kiina, Etelä-Korea sekä Israel ovat merkittävimmin kasvattaneet markkinaosuuttaan Venäjän matkailussa matkustajamääriä mittaessa. Tutkielman primääriaineistoa laajemman ulkopoliittisen tutkimuskirjallisuuden tarkastelun myötä käy ilmi, kuinka matkailukehityksellä sekä diplomaattisten suhteiden laajemmalla kehityssuunnalla vaikuttaa löytyvän ajallinen yhteys Venäjän kontekstissa. Tämä tukee tutkimuksen premissiä siitä, kuinka matkustustilastot sekä viisumipolitiikka voisivat toimia hyvinä indikaattoreina ulkopolitiikan muutoksen tutkimukselle. Tutkielman tilastoanalyysi sekä viisujärjestelmätutkimus osoittavat, kuinka vuoden 2014 jälkeen eurooppalaisten valtioiden merkitys Venäjän matkailusektorille matkustajavolyymeja tarkasteltaessa on voimistuen vähentynyt, sillä vuosina 2014–2019 matkailu Euroopasta Venäjälle supistui lähes 25 prosentilla globaalin kokonaismatkailun Venäjälle kasvaessa samanaikaisesti. Tutkimus toimii hyvänä aineistona niille, jotka tarvitsevat koottua tilastotietoa Venäjän matkailukehityksestä vuosilta 2002–2019.

Social media was initially viewed as a democratising force that allowed anyone to participate in political discourse, however in recent years there has been a significant increase in the number of state-sponsored cyber troops using these technologies to spread disinformation and computational propaganda with the intent to influence the behaviour and opinions of individuals, sow chaos and confusion and undermine social cohesion. In recent years, Russia has emerged as the global leader in developing and deploying these tactics against foreign nations, conducting operations on an industrial scale through what are colloquially termed ‘troll factories,’ the most famous of which is the Internet Research Agency (IRA). This study examines images produced by Twitter accounts attributed to the IRA and the corresponding account-level metadata, in order to understand how cyber troops are using Twitter to propagate memetic content and in what ways tactics differ based upon Russian strategic culture. This study also looks at how a nation’s perceived geopolitical position can be interpreted through analysing the output of state-sponsored digital actors. Key to the success of these tactics is the dissemination of weaponised information that spreads ‘virally’ from person to person. For this reason, memetics is employed as a theoretical framework. Strategic culture is also used as an analytical tool to interpret the objectives behind Russian cyber troop activity. The research design of this study comprises three phases. First, images that occur in the dataset 5 or more times are computationally clustered, producing 1,346 clusters of visually similar images, representing 11,742 images in total. Qualitative Content Analysis is then used to create a coding framework which categorises the content of each cluster, capturing three primary dimensions: mode of delivery, type of message and country of focus. Finally, account-level metadata is analysed to determine key account characteristics, providing insight into five factors: location, account lifespan (age), language, activity and originality. Each of these factors is then cross tabulated with five regions: Russia, Post-Soviet, Europe, USA and Rest of World. The findings of this study indicate that IRA actors have pursued a multidirectional strategy based upon Russian strategic culture, in which highly political information is distributed to target audiences primarily in Russia, USA, Europe and Ukraine. The type of information spread is predominantly photographic in nature. Images of public figures and other types of political imagery frequently occur in the dataset, as do images that reinforce an insider/outsider dichotomy. Neutral images are also strategically utilised to construct Twitter accounts that appear authentic, thereby maximising the propagation rate of targeted information. When looking at references made to countries, Russia and the USA emerge as the primary centres of focus. However, when geo-visually plotted on a map, the data indicates that, as the space between these two powers, the European region is commensurate in strategic significance. Ukraine is also prioritised as a fulcrum between the Russian and Western spheres of influence, highlighting divergence in interpretations of how to define Europe and its boundaries. These findings suggest that as Russia vies for digital sociopolitical influence in the West, Europe emerges as a key strategic space between the evolving perception of ‘us’ and ‘them’.

In the study the present is mirrored to the past in the Russian economy with focus on similarities in the fields of investment/capital, knowledge/technology and entrepreneurship. The periods were 1894 to 1914 and 2000 to 2020. The fields appeared as central factors in programs for economic modernization in 1890s and the 2000s. It was assumed, that there would be major similarities in the studied areas in the two periods. The hypothesis was tested by applying roughly the hypothetico-deductive method while utilizing freely the theories of Anthony Giddens. The material consisted primarily of secondary sources. Major similarities in investments were the primacy of defence and the transport sector, pipelines in the 2000s and before 1914 railways. Both served the export of raw materials, grain respective hydrocarbons. The incomes from these main export products were largely invested into the transport sector and the defence of the huge territory. The state remained the main actor steering largely investments in a way that increased the defence capability of the country, the railways having a military function. In both periods a strict monetary policy was conducted. In the field of knowledge, the structures favoured creation of theoretical knowledge but not of innovations. While private entrepreneurship remained important, the state became the main actor in the economy promoting modernization. In the earlier period it implemented an economic program whose main factors were the building of railways, attracting foreign investments and maintaining high custom barriers. In the 2000s the lack of one single program was compensated by the generally greater role of the state, state companies and the huge state-owned defence industry. The custom barriers were initially lowered, but in the 2010s the policy of import substitution and devaluation of the rouble brought similarities to the former system. In both periods the wealth and military power of the country grew from the initial level. Yet the results were far from the ambitious goals set. The systems remained monopolistic, relatively inefficient and disinterested of inventions, with corruption, bribery and dishonest business practices. The border between state and private sectors was blurred. Subsidies provided mainly by the export of raw materials bolstered the systems. These features could be seen as obstacles for economic modernization. To verify whether they all are would require including more theory of economic modernization. Both in good and bad, the structures of the two periods seem so much alike even on a detailed level, that one could suspect partial imitation of the past in the 2000s. The similarities could as well be due to long-term structures of Russia, be they cultural, institutional, geographical or geopolitical. They could result either from direct continuities from earlier periods or features that re-emerge due to a change of conditions. Mentions of similar traits in other periods of the Russian history might indicate the predominance of structural causes, making quick changes difficult. A more plausible explanation would require the widening of the study to include more countries and time periods.

The Master’s thesis provides a multiregional equilibrium analysis on the Russian sawmill market. The main objective of the thesis is to establish a partial equilibrium model on the Russian sawmill market and define the amount by which production, consumption, imports, exports, prices for roundwood and sawnwood may change over a period of time as a response to the following external factors: economic growth, changes in tariffs for roundwood after Russia’s accession to WTO, exchange rates, increased supply of the Russian sawlog, increased consumer preference for sawnwood in Russian and EU. The model includes 20 Russian regions and 5 export regions. The base year of the model is 2009. The partial equilibrium model has been constructed using GAMS software. After establishing an equilibrium model of supply and demand, 9 scenario variations have been run to answer the research questions. The results suggest that increased demand in CIS and China has a positive impact on the Russian sawnwood production. Increased supply of sawlogs in Russia could reduce prices for raw material on the local market and stimulate production of sawnwood in Russia. Changed consumer preference towards sawnwood could also stipulate the development of the sawmill sector, which highlights the importance of national programs to promote wood in construction. However, it was discovered that introduction of export tariffs for sawlogs does not stipulate production of sawnwood in Russia substantially, but reduces prices for sawnwood on the domestic market and decreases harvest of sawlogs. Increased dollar rate against ruble improves the profitability of the sawmill industry. However, devaluation of ruble may also lead to lower incomes of the Russian population in comparison to the EU and the US.

This thesis examines the effects of the legal framework of the indigenous peoples defined in the study on different aspects of the lives of the Kola Sámi living in the Kola Peninsula. In Russia, both the Constitution and Federal laws guarantee the protection of indigenous peoples’ way of life through various rights. Despite this, several scholars and the media have increasingly written about the challenges related to the realization of the rights of indigenous peoples, especially during the last decade. In this thesis, the effects of Sámi rights are examined by using the theory of legal pluralism, which takes into account the colonial nature of laws and their outcome. The data of the study consists of f interviews, 21 news articles and one podcast. Due to the restricting political atmosphere in Russia in 2022 and the research pressure on the Sámi people, the data has been compiled using different, mutually supporting and reinforcing qualitative methods. The research topic is approached with content analysis, which emphasizes the three main themes identified from the background literature, in light of which the effects of Sámi rights are discussed. These three themes are bureaucracy, environment and economy. In addition to the three main themes, the analysis identifies three different fields of influence of Sámi rights: control of rights through self-governance and self-determination; obstacles related to the pursuit of traditional livelihoods; and contradictions in the existence of rights de jure. The results show that the realization of Sámi rights is secondary to the interests of the state and local actors. The colonialist attitude of the Russian Federation towards its Arctic regions manifests itself in the primacy of the capitalist benefit of the Kola Peninsula at the expense of the rights and traditions of the Kola Sámi. The results show that during V. V Putin’s current administration, the nature of the rights of the Kola Sámi has become repressive and further limiting. In order to fulfill Arctic interests, the Sámi are controlled and assimilated through their legal framework. Obstacles and difficulties in the exercise of rights as well as harassments against the Kola Sámi contribute to the alienation of the population from their environment and traditions. Thus, in this thesis, the effects of Sámi rights are seen as intentional, oppressive and suppressing the population instead of their protection.

This thesis investigates parental experiences on preterm birth, hospital care, and social support in Russia. The dissolution of the Soviet Union led to dire economic decline and created extensive social problems in Russia. Two simultaneous issues occurred: low life expectancy and low fertility rate, which drastically decreased the nation’s population. This consequently led to a worsening demographic situation as the dependency ratio was unstabilised. Russian Federation started to combat the problem by incentivising the birth rate via financial benefits and pronatalist policies aiming to improve maternal and hospital services. Out of total live births in Russia in 2018, six and a half per cent were preterm births. The percentage is quite substantial from the demographic perspective and makes it worth investing in preterm care. The main research questions of this thesis are “What kind of support parents of preterm children receive in Russia in terms of benefits, healthcare, and social services, how parents evaluate these and what did they expect to get?” This study aims to understand how Russian social and family policies have evolved, starting mainly from 2006 when the national priority projects began and what is their impact on preterm care. The nature of the study is qualitative, and its primary resource are eight semi-structured interviews conducted in March 2021, including seven Russian mothers with preterm children and one expert in the field of preterm care. A theoretical framework is built around welfare regimes, Russian social and pronatalist policies. Interviews are analysed with an approach of phenomenological and thematic analysis. A lot has improved and on a positive note, births – be it preterm or full-term – are free in Russia. Nevertheless, the main results of this research showed that preterm care is having a lack of family centredness and medical staff is expected to be more emotionally supportive. Most of the infants were separated from their parents for long periods, which can be detrimental for both. Regarding post-discharge care, all parents used private services, as for various reasons, there appeared to be distrust towards public healthcare. This thesis describes the struggles parents in Russia experience when having preterm children and ends with potential topics for further studies.

This thesis aims to solve the puzzle of why fraudulent federal elections of 2016-2018 caused no similar protest wave against unfair elections as the previous electoral cycle did. I approached this puzzle with case-study and process-tracing methods, which helped me to investigate while seemingly similar conditions did not result in same outcomes. I applied the theories of Relative Deprivation and Political opportunity, and findings from the previous research on electoral revolutions to assess which factors and conditions in the Russian Federation determined the no-protest phenomenon. After the mass protests of 2011-2012, the authorities introduced a number of measures that, on the one hand, increased their confidence in the electoral victories of the incumbents, and on the other hand made engaging in protests, especially political ones, cost more. Among those measures were new electoral laws and changes to electoral system, tightening control over media, repressions, attacks on NGOs, and other actions. And yet, as I have concluded, the decisive facts why no mass protest wave followed the federal elections of 2016 and 2018 was due to two facts: ‘rally-‘round-the-flag’ phenomenon, which managed to cancel out the possible mobilising effects of the worsening economic situation; and making electoral cycle 2016-2018 seem more fair and just then the one in 2011-2012. Partially this was achieved by reducing the malpractice, partially by relying more on administrative resource, and partially by manipulating public opinion on the election conduct.

The past two decades has seen significant shifts (or a rebound) in Russian foreign policy, ranging from Putin’s pragmatic cooperation to a new line of assertiveness under a “rhetoric of resistance” against a perceived US-led Atlantic expansionism. The incommensurate views between Moscow and the Atlantic Community regarding the political layout of the post-Cold War order has seen the emergence of what some would describe as a New Cold War on the European continent. With it has come a renewed focus on Northern Europe and the Arctic. For smaller Nordic countries such as Norway, the collapse of the USSR brough a general optimism that Oslo’s geopolitical position between Moscow and Washington belonged to the past. However, the re-emergence of a Muscovite State capable and willing to assert its interests in opposition to Washington’s hegemonic interests has made it clear that these predictions had not come to pass. During the immediate post-Cold War period, Norwegian foreign and security policy underwent significant shifts in pursuit of its partnership interests vis-à-vis the United States. As such, Norway finds itself increasingly in a squeeze between its partnership interests and increased dependency vis-à-vis United States, and its position as a good neighbour towards Russia. As such, this thesis aims to understand on what grounds Russian perspectives may increasingly come to view Norway as a growing operational piece for US-led ‘post-Cold War expansive Cold War liberal order’?