The government type that exists in Russia is Federation.

At 17,075,200 square kilometres

(6,592,800 sq mi), Russia is the largest country in the world by surface area, covering more than
one-eighth of the Earth's inhabited land area and the ninth most populous, with over 144 million
people at the end of March 2016. The first free democratic elections for the new Federal
Assembly and the adoption by referendum of a new, democratic constitution took place 12
December 1993. 31 December 1999 President Yeltsin resigned, Putin became Interim President
and was elected President on 26 March 2000.

Russia in World War One

The war started with Austrian invasion of Serbia, which was stoutly and successfully resisted by
the Serbs. The Balkan campaign, however, was soon dwarfed by the titanic struggle developing
on the trio German fronts. In the west the Germans invaded France and nearly reached Paris. In
the east the Russians, honoring their agreement with France, invaded Germany, to Buffer a
severe defeat. And Turkey, torn between friendship for Britain and enmity for Russia, had been
persuaded by her newfound German friends to enter the war on her side. This involved Russia in
a new campaign in the Caucasus, and cut her sea communications with her allies through the
Mediterranean. In 1917 came the long expected Russian revolution. In November, with the
second phase of the revolution, Lenin and the Bolsheviks seized power. They started peace
negotiations with Germany in December; and after a breakdown in these negotiations, when the
Germans resumed their advance. The Bolsheviks gave up the Ukraine and all the border
territories. Independent governments were set up in Finland, Poland, the Ukraine, and the Baltic
provinces of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia under German Nomination and protection; and in the
trans-Caucasian provinces of Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaija3a under German area Turkish
influence.

During 1919 a Peace Conference at Versailles re-drew the map of Europe, based on the principle
of self-determination of peoples eloquently expounded by President Wilson of the United States.
Bolshevik Russia was not represented at the conference. She was instead engulfed in civil wars
and foreign invasions which lasted from early 1918 until late 1920.

Bolshevik Revolution:
Born Vladimir Ilich Ulanov in 1870, Lenin was the founder of the Russian Communist Party,
leader of the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution, and the architect, builder, and first head of the Soviet
Union. Lenin spent the years leading up to the 1917 revolution in exile, within Russia and
abroad. The Bolsheviks quickly consolidated power; privatizing all aspects of the Soviet
economy. Determined to win at any cost, Lenin showed himself to be ruthless in his push to
secure power. He launched what came to be known as the Red Terror, a vicious campaign Lenin
used to eliminate the opposition within the civilian population.

World War Two

Western Poland was overrun by the German army in a few weeks. Eastern Poland
was then invaded by the Russians, and Hitler and Stalin divided Poland between
them. There then ensued a winter of desultory skirmishing on the western fronts, while Hitler
was preparing for his western offensive, and while Britain was trying to make up for lost time in
re-arming. During the winter Stalin, to strengthen his position against Germany, concluded
treaties with the Baltic states - Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia - giving Russia the right to establish
bases on their territory; and in July 1940 he incorporated these states into the USSR. He made
similar demands on Finland. The Finns refused. The Russians thereupon invaded Finland, where
they encountered unexpectedly stubborn resistance. After a costly campaign lasting 15 weeks
Stalin imposed his terms on the Finns.

Cold War

The western democracies hoped that as a result of the war-time alliance Stalin would
abandon the principle of Communist world-domination and would co-operate in the
maintenance of peace. At first there seemed to be some justification for this hope.
Russia joined the new world organisation, the United Nations whose charter was
based on there being unanimous agreement between the "Big Five" - the United
States, Britain, France, the USSR and China onm all major political questions.
It soon became evident, however, that Stalin had no intention of co-operating, and
that his plan was the gradual extension of Communist government to all countries,
these governments to be subservient to Soviet Russia. Membership of the United
Nations was used as a means of spreading Communist propaganda and of maligning
the so-called imperialistic United States and Britain. And Russia's powerful position
as one of the Big Five (who had permanent seats on the Security Council) enabled
her to prevent settlement of disputes and so keep the world in a state of tension and
unrest, favourable to the spread of Communism. In order not to appear in too small
a minority in the United Nations, she obtained membership as separate nations: for
the two largest Soviet Republics (apart from the Russian SSR) - the Ukraine and
Belorussia (White Russia). And as soon as any other country came under Communist
control it automatically supported Russia on all important issues.

Greece was saved from being drawn behind the iron curtain by American and
British assistance to the Greek government in their struggle against Communist
insurgents. Finland also succeeded in maintaining her independence and in remaining
outside the iron curtain. And the danger of a Communist coup in Italy and the further
spread of Communism in western Europe was averted largely by the economic aid
provided by the United State's in a "European Recovery Programme".
The western democracies of Europe, forces into a policy of military, as well as
economic, defence against further Russian expansion, banded together in the
Western Union, consisting of Britain, France, Belgium, Holland. This defensive alliance was
then expanded in the North Atlantic Treaty, to include
the United States, Canada, Italy, Norway, Denmark, Iceland, Portugal, Greece and
Turkey. In Germany Russian policy rendered impossible the formation of a unified
German state other than a Communist one, and the country remained divided into a
democratic Western Germany and a Communist-controlled Eastern Germany.

By 1950 a large part of the world was divided into the two opposing groups : the
Communist-controlled states and the N.A.T.O.. Stalin had become absolute master of
the 200 million inhabitants of the USSR and of another 90 million behind the iron
curtain in Europe; all the Slav countries except Yugoslavia, and the non-Slavs of
Hungary, Roumania and East Germany.

The Soviet Union after Stalin.Stalin died in 1953. Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev was a
politician who led the Soviet Union during part of the Cold War.
Russias New Game

A resurgent Russia is making new inroads into Afghanistan, not in the way the former USSR did,
but by aligning itself with some of the very extremists whose leaders were involved in the defeat
of the Soviet Union's decade-long invasion of Afghanistan.

In December 2016, Moscow disclosed its contacts with the Taliban, the group that is intent on
toppling the Afghan government. The Russian Foreign Ministry announced that it is sharing
intelligence and cooperating with the Taliban to fight Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant group's
(ISIL, also known as ISIS) militants in Afghanistan. Moscow has repeatedly declared its
concerns about ISIL militants, in many instances exaggerating their presence and power in
Afghanistan.

Meanwhile, Afghan government officials have claimed Russia has been delivering weapons to
the Taliban, allegations that have been rejected by Russian officials. Russia's recent posturing
towards Afghanistan has opened a new chapter in what could be termed a new great game in the
heart of Asia with multiple players, including Russia, the United States, China, India, Pakistan
and others.

Russia's diplomatic offensive coupled with battlefield support to the Taliban has perplexed many
about the Russian intention in Afghanistan.

Expansionist ideals

Russia's encroachment into Afghanistan could be part of President Vladimir Putin's expansionist
ideals to restore Russia's position as a geopolitical player. Since coming to power in 1999, Putin
has pursued what can be called an interventionist policy through armed conflicts, cyberattacks
and propaganda wars.

The second Chechen war in 1999, the conflict in Georgia in 2008, the annexation of Crimea in
2014, the military engagement in Syriain 2015 and the cyber operations on the US in 2016 are
prominent examples.

President Putin has successfully exploited these wars to elevate Russia's standing in the
international political transactions and consolidate his position in Russia. So the question now is:
what does Russia want in Afghanistan? Russia is most likely following multiple objectives. By
aligning itself with the Taliban, it could gain the ability to strengthen its bargaining position in
broader dealings with Washington. Insecurity and instability in Afghanistan is on the rise,
directly threatening the survival of the US-backed Afghan government and pose a great danger to
the US and NATO mission in the country.

In Russian calculation, harassing US/NATO attempts at this precarious situation could be the
best time to extract concessions in the form of reducing US pressure on Russia regarding Crimea
and easing US sanctions, among others.

It is also likely that Russia is trying to gather additional chips with regards to the future of
Afghanistan so that it can then have a front row seat at any regional and global diplomacy/talks
on the future of peace and security in Afghanistan. A key motivation in this regard could be
Russia's exclusion in most key discussions on Afghanistan in the past.

Russia's attempts could have also been motivated by its concerns over the degrading status of the
Kabul government and the lack of clarity of Kabul's western allies towards defending
Afghanistan against the growing threat of the Taliban and other terrorist groups. By providing
support to the Taliban, Russia might be hedging itself against the increasing fatigue of the
Western countries, preparing to manage the political landscape, and shape the future government
if the current government collapses. By hyping the ISIL threat, Russia not only tries to create
legitimacy for their collusion with the Taliban, but they may also want to pave the ground for
their augmented military presence and political influence in Central Asia.

As the Central Asian states have been falling under increasing economic influence of China,
Russia sees itself losing its hegemonic role. Increasing its military presence will enhance Russia's
policing role in the Central Asian region and expand Central Asia's security dependency on
Russia. There could also be economic motives behind Russia's new game. The Central Asian
republics have some of the richest natural gas and oil reserves in the entire region. Leaders of
these republics have sought to find new markets, especially in the energy-thirsty South Asia.

This is because if Central Asian states manage to diversify markets for their natural gas, it will
further reduce Russia's grip over the region's energy markets. As Afghanistan is the shortest route
for Central Asian natural gas to reach South Asia, alignment with the Taliban would enable
Russia to derail attempts to take Central Asian natural gas to South Asia, thus compelling Central
Asian states to remain dependent on Russia and China as the main purchasers of Central Asian
natural gas.

There is no doubt Russia has legitimate concerns about growing extremism in the region. A
remarkable number of ISIL fighters come from the Central Asian countries, which Russia
considers its security backyard.

However, supporting one terrorist group to defeat another terrorist group is not a sustainable
geopolitical strategy, particularly in the complex landscape of Afghanistan where history has
proved many political and military calculations wrong.

It is hard to believe the hardcore ideologues could become strategic partners to Russia because of
their deep-seated ideological animosity towards the country. The best approach would be to work
with the Afghan government and the regional and international partners to address the growing
menace of extremism in the region. Partnering with a dangerous and unpredictable group to
pursue a zero-sum game could easily backfire.

Russian support for the Taliban has already helped the militant group make battlefield gains and
enhance their legitimacy. The question is to what extent will Russia support the Taliban and
whether it will remain purely tactical support. This will most likely be determined by the state of
relations between Putin and the Trump administration and their approach towards fighting
terrorism in Afghanistan.