Russia
It seems like only yesterday that Russia was a strong, proud nation. It was also revered as one of the only two world superpowers, with the United States being the other. However, in 1991, the Soviet Union collapsed, marking the failure of Communism. Today, Russia is on the brink of becoming a third-world nation. Russia's population is collapsing, environmental problems are widespread, diseases, both communicable and non-communicable, are spreading like wildfire, crime is rampant, people are turning to drugs in an effort to ease their pains, and the economy has been plummeting since the conversion from Communism to capitalism from over a decade ago. While Russia was still known as the Soviet Union, its population reached approximately 287 million, 40 million more than the United States at this time (Dillin 4). Since this time, its population has dwindled down to almost half of this (146 million). This can be attributed to the collapse of the Soviet Union, which saw Russia lose about one-third of its population, and one-fourth of its territory. Some experts estimate that Russia is losing nearly 400 thousand people a year, which may lead to its population sinking to around 125 million by the year 2015 (Dillin 5). Officially, Rus
The final nail in Russia's coffin may be its stumbling economy. In the book "Kapitalizm: Russia's Struggle to Free Its Economy," Rose Brady notes the several acts passed by Vladimir Putin and Boris Yeltsin in an attempt to jump-start Russia's economy. The most notable act, passed by Yeltsin, was the "Kremlin Act" (Brady 202). This act lowered the outrageous quotas, boosted pension, increased benefits, and raised the minimum wage (Brady 202). Putin has also said, "The economy needs to better itself, for the people do not want any part of it," (Freeland 156). This quote was aimed at the Russian workers, who seemingly were unwilling to better their own lives. This is especially true of the Russian Army. In the 1960's, U.S. soldier William Odom once said, "I saw thousands of soldiers. They were big, sandpaper-hard, rough, ready peasants. You could of hit 'em with a two-by-four and it wouldn't hurt 'em," (Dillin 1). After returning to Russia last year, Odom reported, "They're shallow, unwilling, sick, thin, poor. I physically observed that decline," (Dillin 1). - In total, Russia's economy has dropped 45% over the past decade. Russia may be the most medically inept countries in the entire world. Hospitals are literally falling apart, most doctors aren't registered, and supplies are severely lacking. For example, 12% of Russia's hospitals lack running water, 42% are not supplied with hot water, 18% do not have connections to a sewage system, and an astonishingly high 88% of hospitals do not have a central heating system (Powell 12). Many hospitals were established in the early 20th century, and a few were even built in the mid-1800's. Perhaps this is a major attributing factor when one ponders why Russia has a low life expectancy. In Russia, only 60% of children who reach the age of 16 live to the age of sixty, compared to 90% in the United States (Dillin 3). It is fairly obvious that Russia is in desperate need of better healthcare. For nearly fifty years, Russia was an industrial powerhouse, churning out arms, vehicles, and missiles at an astonishing pace. At this time, the Russian government was only concerned with meeting and succeeding quotas. As a direct result of this, Russia has many environmental problems. For example, decaying nuclear submarines pose a horrific threat to the envi
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Approximate Word count = 1557
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
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