Russia: An important Player in Global Power Game I
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By Dr. Syed Mehboob
Research Scholar, Analyst
Politics is the name of the global power game. Every important player wanted to gain the maximum share and the upper hand in this game. The United States of America had an upper hand in this game for several decades, but now the situation is changing, and Russia and China have entered into this game as important players. The global political scenario is changing now. America is now longer the sole superpower; others have emerged on the global scene, and power is shifting from the West to the East.
Russia, despite sanctions imposed by the United States of America and European countries, has shown resilience and not only survived but also become an important player in the power game.
Russia is the largest country in the world, encompassing one-eighth of the Earth’s inhabitable earth mass. Russia extends across eleven time zones and shares land boundaries with fourteen countries. It is the world’s ninth most populous country. As the Russian economy stands the ninth largest by nominal GDP and the sixth largest by GDP purchasing power parity (PPP). Its mineral and energy resources are the world’s largest, and its figures for oil production and natural gas production rank high globally. Russia possesses the largest stockpiles of nuclear weapons, and has the fifth largest military expenditure. Russia is also a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) and enjoys veto power. It is also a member of the and G20, the SCO, BRICS, the APEC, the OSCE, the WTO. It is also a leading member of CIS, the CSTO, and the EAEU. Russia is home to 30 UNESCO World Heritage sites.
It has an area of 17,098,246 sq km, which is twice the size of the USA, the largest among the 234 countries of the world, and is 11% of the total earth mass.
GDP (PPP): US$4,650 billion (2022) 6th largest in the
World
GDP (Nominal): US$ 2,133 billion (2022) 9th largest in the
World
GDP per Capita (PPP): US$ 31,967
HDI: 0.822 very high
It has the world’s fourth-largest coastline of over 37,653 kilometers. Russia by landmass is larger than three continents, and has the same surface area as Pluto. Russia, as one of the world’s only three countries bordering three oceans, has links with a greater number of seas.
Russia is home to over 100,000 rivers and has one of the world’s largest surface water reserves, with lakes containing approximately one quarter of the world’s liquid fresh water. Lake Baikal, the largest and most important among Russia’s freshwater bodies, is the world’s deepest, purest, oldest most capacious freshwater lake, containing over one-fifth of the world’s fresh surface water. Russia is second only to Brazil in total renewable water resources.
Russia has the world’s fifth-largest diplomatic network and maintains diplomatic relations with 190 United Nations members. It has 144 embassies around the world and many consulates. Russian relations with China are of strategic and both countries have many commonalities facing hostile policies of the USA and European countries. Turkiye and Russia have a complex strategic, energy, and defence relationship. Russia also has very close, cordial, and strategic relations with Iran, and now it has a very good chance to extend its relations with Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries, as a patch-up between Saudi Arabia and Iran has paved the way for it. Russia, along with China, can play a very important strategic role in bringing peace, development, and technology transfer to Middle East countries. Russia increasingly expanded its influence across the Arctic, Asia Pacific, Africa, the Middle East, and Latin America. As of 2021, the military has around 1.1 million personnel, which is the world’s fifth largest.
Russia is among the five recognized nuclear weapon states, with the world’s largest stockpile of nuclear weapons. it is estimated that Russia has over half of the world’s nuclear weapons. Russia also possesses the second-largest fleet of ballistic missile submarines and is one of the only three countries operating strategic bombers. Its defence budget was US$61.7 billion in 2020. In 2021, it was the second-largest arms exporter in the world.
Russia’s foreign exchange reserves are the fifth largest in the world, worth US$540 billion. It has a labour force of 70 million people, which is the sixth largest in the world. It is the world’s thirteenth largest exporter and 21st largest importer of the world. Russia has one of the lowest levels of foreign debt among major economies.
Russian Railway track is 87,000 Km which is the third largest in the world. Russia has the fifth largest road network with 1.5 million Km of roads. Russia has the largest inland waterways of 102,000 km. Among Russia’s 1,218 Airports, the busiest one is Sheremetyevo International Airport. Russia’s largest port is the port of Novorossiysk in Krasnodar Krai along the Black Sea.
Russia is rightly described as “Energy Superpower”. It has the world’s largest proven gas reserves, the second largest coal reserves, the eight largest oil reserves, and the largest oil shale reserves in Europe. Russia is also the leading natural gas exporter, the second largest natural gas producer, and the second largest oil exporter.
Russia has the third-largest world’s cultivated area, at 1,265,267 sq km. Russian agricultural land is considered the “breadbasket” of Europe. Russia is the world’s largest wheat exporter, the largest producer of barley and fruits. It is also among the largest exporters of maize and sunflower oil, and the leading producer of fertilizer.
Russia spends 1% of its GDP on research and development, which is the world’s 10th largest budget. It also ranked 10th worldwide in the number of scientific publications in 2020, with roughly 1.3 million pages. Since 1904 Noble Prize were awarded to 26 Soviet Union and Russians in Physics, Chemistry, Medicine, Economy, Literature and peace. Russia ranked 45th in the Global Innovation Index in 2021. Roscosmos is Russian National Space Agency. Russia has 172 active satellites in space in April 2022, the world’s third highest. Around 24.6 million and 24.5 million people visited in Russia in 2018 and 2019 respectively. Russia was the sixth most visiting country in the world in 2019.