Cause & Effect: Aftermath of Political Strategies in Russia

The role of the government in a democracy is to protect individual rights and serve the needs of its citizens. According to Thomas Jefferson, if the government does not uphold this purpose, the people have the right to protest against and abolish the government. Yet Russia's government, a democratic institution, seems to be diverging from this role of serving the citizens. Instead, the Russian government has been acting in a manner that manifests a focus on the political power of the state. Throughout various events in the spheres of health, ideology, and ethnicity, the government's emphasis on political power leads to damaging consequences for citizens' wellbeing and individual rights. 

Being a predominantly Russian Orthodox Christian country, Russia’s state affairs are heavily influenced by conservative beliefs.

For example, at the height of the coronavirus pandemic, Moscow decided to name its vaccine "Sputnik V". The name of the vaccine originated from the Russian satellite “Sputnik V” that is a direct allusion to the Cold War space race that happened between the United States and the Soviet Union. Under this context, Russia’s aim to develop the first COVID-19 vaccine marks a return to its conventional belief: the desire to reinforce nationalism and employ an interventionist approach through the symbolic naming of the vaccine. This event exemplifies the prevalence of conservative ideologies in Russia. As a result of the state’s strong endorsement of conservatism, however, there are repercussions that individuals face daily.

In September 2020, a group of single gay men who became fathers through the in-vitro fertilization (IVF) procedure were falsely accused of engaging in child trafficking. Despite being a legalized medical procedure that fertilizes an egg by a sperm in an external carrier, the IVF is exclusive for single mothers or married heterosexual couples. Considering how the Russian Orthodox Church does not condone homosexuality, the single gay men’s inability to access IVF reflects the conservative ideals that are deeply infused into the political sphere in Russia.

Apart from Orthodox Christianity, conservatism is a ubiquitous concept among Islamic communities in Russia as well. According to a recent announcement from the Russia Muslim Spiritual Administration, interfaith marriage between Muslims and non-Muslims would become forbidden. Despite how the council holds no enforcement power, the recent declaration still sparked Russian Muslim's isolation from other religious groups, encouraging them to practice the doctrines from the Quran. Evidently, Moscow’s marginalization of minority groups has provoked the dissent among the citizens.

The state’s support for deep-rooted conservatism appears to leave negative impacts on the lives of individuals by directly interfering with their family values. 

Through perpetuating conservative ideologies, the Russian government endorses the message that the state should not compromise its benefits and beliefs with other concerns on its agenda.

For instance, the gay propaganda law in Russia reinforces the state's belief that the LGBTQ rights conflict with orthodox doctrines and are thus unworthy of public representation. This law bans the promotion of LGBTQ related content to "protect" children from exposure to non-traditional, supposedly subordinate values, which resulted in the lack of LGBTQ representation in various public sectors, such as the film industry.

Similarly, Russia's registration of the world's first coronavirus vaccine displays how the state prioritizes its global reputation over the wellbeing of its citizens and nations across the world. By naming its vaccine "Sputnik V" and claiming that Russia has won the "vaccine race", Russia approaches vaccine development as a competition to be won rather than a worldwide effort to pursue wellbeing for all of humanity. In this situation, Russia adopts an "us versus them" mindset, in which the state separates itself from the rest of the world in order to gain superiority through developing a vaccine before any other nation.

Finally, Russia places the value of state benefits (both domestically and internationally) over ethnic equality, as Russia's initiative to promote interethnic harmony is highly intertwined with its political agenda. For example, Russia has optionalized the education of Udmurt language in the local region. Given that Udmurt, an endangered indigenous language, is no longer considered an essential skill in the local region, activists fear that the action will further jeopardize the language as a cultural heritage. Thus, this decision reflects how Russia seeks to strengthen the collective national identity, despite the legislation seemingly encourages the freedom of choice.

Therefore, Russia's prioritization of the state's reputation over global health, those with traditional sexuality over the LGBTQ, and collective identity of the state over minority rights all display concern over one population or idea over all others.

In an attempt to foster patriotism and emphasize on its sovereignty, the Russian state strategically manipulated historical and current information in different spheres, resulting in a prolonged period of turmoil.

The state deliberately modifies information to conduct domestic and foreign affairs to their advantage, even if that entailed compromising the people’s rights to know. Under a state that is more preoccupied with honor and global standing, Russian citizens live in uncertainty while being subject to deception and government censorship.

Current news events emphasize that Russia’s prioritization of state sovereignty primarily derives from conservative and nationalistic beliefs. To extend the government’s interest, the Putin administration actively manipulates the flow of information and denies its past involvements. Meanwhile, Moscow’s policy jeopardizes the ethnic harmony, the rights of marginalized populations, and more importantly, the health of its citizens amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. Widely considered as a regressive trend, Russia’s emphasis on state sovereignty impedes democratization and liberal changes. For years to come, the conflict between state benefits and the people’s interest will remain as the crux of Russian society. Being the battleground of distinct ideologies, Russia will likely reconsider the extent to which it values state benefits to maintain social stability.