Lowy Lecture Series: Putin, the elections, and Russia 2018 - Dr Alexey Muraviev and Professor Graeme Gill
On 4 March 2012, Vladimir Putin secured a clear victory in the first tour of Presidential elections by securing over 64 per cent of the vote. The elections in Russia have once again shown the weakness of the so-called systemic opposition – the communists, liberal-democrats and socialist-democrats – as well as the non-systemic opposition, which failed to form a consensus political movement on the basis of widespread protests that rocked Russia in December 2011-March 2012.
Despite the landslide victory Putin faces several tough choices. Around 35 per cent of voters who supported alternative candidates, and the open-street opposition, are clear signals that the nation expects swift socio-economic and political reforms. In order to move the country forward and to restructure the resources-based economy Putin will need to initiate liberal reforms at home.
This is likely to be combined with a tougher approach to foreign and strategic policy. In his election campaign policy briefs Putin outlined his view on how and where Russia will engage with the world. For the first time, the Eastern vector (the Asia-Pacific) was given preference over Europe, the United States and even post-Soviet space.
Russia experts Dr Alexey Muraviev and Professor Graeme Gill will discuss what a Putin presidency will mean for the world and the Asia-Pacific region.
Dr Alexey Muraviev is a an award-winning senior lecturer in International Relations and Strategic Studies in the School of Social Sciences and Asian Languages at Curtin University, Perth. He is a Coordinator of the International Relations and National Security programs and the founder and Director of the Strategic Flashlight forum on national security and strategy at Curtin.
Nominated by the Australian Research Council (ARC) College of Experts as an “expert of international standing”, Alexey has published widely on national and international security. His research interests include problems of modern maritime power, contemporary defence and strategic policy, Russia’s strategic and defence policy, Russia as a Pacific power, transnational terrorism, Australian national security, and other.
Alexey is a member of the Australian Member Committee, Council for Security Cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region (AU-CSCAP), member of Russia-NATO Experts Group, member of the International Institute for Strategic Studies, London, reviewer of the Military Balance annual defence almanac, member of the Research Network for Secure Australia, member of the Australian Institute of International Affairs (W.A. branch), Royal United Services Institute of Western Australia, and other organisations and think tanks.
Graeme Gill is Professor of Government and Public Administration at the University of Sydney. He has been a long-time student of first Soviet and then Russian affairs, and has published eighteen books and more than eighty papers. His most recent book, due out this year, looks at the role of political symbolism in post-Soviet Russia. He visits Russia regularly, and is currently the president of the International Council for Central and East European Studies, the peak international body for the study of this region.
