Essay from the year 2011 in the subject Politics - Region: Russia, Seattle Pacific University, language: English, abstract: In the west, he is a negative, always associated with corruption and oppression. However, these harsh opinions come from outsiders without a working knowledge of Putin's mentality or popular opinion in Russia. We criticize from our outsider perspective, asking, "What is the best way for Russia to be ruled so that its policies and ideals are in-line with our policies and ideals?" Instead of asking the only really important question, "What is the best way for Russia to be ruled for Russians?" Once the Cold-War ended and communism fell, Russia was in shambles, economically and politically, Russia as a nation and state was weak at best. After the collapse, there was no unifying sense of national identity, there was no central government to run a cohesive state and there was virtually no economy. The result was complete chaos, as Jeffrey Mankoff put it, "In percentage terms, Russia's economy shrank by a larger amount in the 1990s than the American economy during the Great Depression. Personal security for vast swathes of the population was undermined by hyperinflation, rampant criminality, and the disastrous first war in Chechnya..." These are the conditions that must be examined and known by policymakers in order to understand Putin and his governing style, and once Putin's administration is understood we will be able to realize that he is not opposed to democracy and freedom of the Russian people, which is the first step to truly improving Russian-U.S. relations.