Russia is a capitalist state ruled by a parasitic and rapacious oligarchy. The foreign policy of the Russian oligarchy, like that of any other capitalist state, is determined by the interests and cynical aims of the Russian bourgeoisie. And since foreign policy is the extension of domestic policy, Putin does not stop at any violent means to impose his will outside Russia’s borders whenever he considers it necessary to protect the interests of the Russian oligarchs – and his own, of course.
The oligarchy owns big companies and banks that were looted from the nationalised economy. These giant monopolies are closely linked to the state – a bourgeois state – that is run in the interests of the oligarchs. The latter need a strong man in the Kremlin, in part because they fear the masses, in part to settle the many feuds between different oligarchs for the division of the loot.
All these features conform very closely to what Lenin described as state monopoly capitalism. The only difference with the older bourgeois democracies of the West is that the Western Mafiosi (who also control the state in the interests of the big banks and monopolies) have had sufficient time to disguise their dictatorship under a fig-leaf of formal democracy; the Russian parvenus do not feel sufficiently confident to allow such luxuries. In America and Britain, a discreet veil is thrown over the dictatorship of capital; in Russia, it presents itself in its naked and most obvious form. But the essence is exactly the same.
Vladimir Putin serves the interests of the oligarchy by keeping order, crushing all dissent and criticism of the present setup, and creating favourable conditions for his business friends to thrive and get rich. Naturally, these services do not come free of charge. Putin and his cronies have accumulated enormous riches at the expense of the Russian people.
As an ex-KGB bureaucrat, Putin’s idea of a strong state is fairly clear. He has increased pressure by the secret police on left-wing and dissident organisations, arrested and imprisoned opponents and rivals, castrated opposition parties and muzzled what little there was of a ‘free press’. This can only be characterised as a regime of bourgeois Bonapartism. A Bonapartist regime is a regime of crisis in which the contradictions of society cannot be resolved within the ‘normal’ functioning of bourgeois democracy.
The state tends to rise above society in the person of a ‘strong man’, who claims to stand above classes and parties, representing ‘the Nation’. Putin bases himself mainly on the armed forces, the police and the executive arm of the state, but he also balances between the classes, utilizing demagogic and nationalist rhetoric. And like every Bonapartist in history, he tries to project an image of strength by participating in foreign military adventures (Chechnya, Georgia, Ukraine and Syria).
Russia’s participation in the capitalist world economy is limited, mainly confined to the trade in oil and gas. But it is intervening actively outside its borders, both militarily and diplomatically, and is constantly coming into conflict with America, which at times threatens to turn into a direct military confrontation. However, the objectives of Russian imperialism are limited and mainly dictated by strategic and military considerations. There is little prospect of economic gain from, say, taking over the ruined Donbass. Even the future prospect of Syrian oil seems more than doubtful and, in any case, the Russians have plenty of oil of their own.
Likewise, the struggle in Ukraine was not about markets. The Russians took Crimea, not because of markets (Crimea is not a big market), but because of strategic military considerations. They could not allow their big naval base in Sevastopol to fall into the hands of the Ukrainian nationalists (that is, of NATO). Putin does not really want the Donbass, which would represent a colossal drain on Russia’s resources. That, too, is for geopolitical considerations. Nonetheless, it remains a struggle between American imperialism and Russian imperialism for control over these areas.
Though nowhere near as powerful as US imperialism, Russia managed to turn to its advantage both the mistakes of the US imperialists in over-stretching their forces and Russia’s superior forces on the ground on a regional level. In effect the Russians won in the Ukrainian conflict. The Americans blew hot and cold but did nothing. They imposed sanctions, but the only result was to drive Putin’s support up to around 82 percent. He answered by intervening in Syria. The American imperialists were not very happy about it but they were forced to accept it.
The intervention in Syria was proof of both Russia’s military might and the weakening power of US imperialism. Commenting on this The Economist (14/5/2016) states:
Russia today hardly looks like the mere “regional power” that Barack Obama once dubbed it. Any path to peace in Syria now runs through Moscow. “Only Russia and the United States of America are in a state to stop the war in Syria, even though they have different political interests and goals,” wrote Valery Gerasimov, chief of Russia’s general staff, in a recent article.
Russia’s intervention in Syria decisively changed the military situation. In Syria, it is Moscow that decides and the Americans have been compelled to accept it. However, Russia’s intervention on a world scale is limited in its objectives, which are mainly of a military-diplomatic character. Its main aim is to prevent the US from intervening in what it sees as its spheres of influence and to force the Americans to recognise it as a world power that is not to be taken for granted.