Window on Eurasia

Russians Split on Whether Their Country is Equal G-8 Member

Paul Goble

Vienna, July 11, 2006 – In advance of this weekend’s G-8 summit in St. Petersburg that will be hosted by President Vladimir Putin, Russians are evenly split on whether their country is a fully equal member of the group of the world’s leading industrial democracies or only a “younger sister,” according to the results of a new poll.

The All-Russian Center for the Study of Public Opinion (VTsIOM) asked
1600 Russians in 46 oblasts, krays and republics of the Russian
Federation earlier this month whether they viewed their country as an
equal member of the G-8 and what were the bases for their opinions
http://www.wciom.ru [http://www.wciom.ru/], July 10.

Thirty-six percent of the sample said that they viewed Russia as having
become “in fact” a fully equal member of the group, up from 25
percent a year ago. But 37 percent said that they did not think that
the Russian Federation had attained that status, down slightly from 40
percent in June 2005.

That difference is well within the sample’s statistical margin of
error, suggesting that many Russians remain unconvinced that their
country has equal status in the G-8 despite the frequent statements of
Western governments to that effect and the ongoing efforts by the Putin
regime to promote Russia in that role.

More interesting that this overall finding, however, are the reasons
that those who believe Russia has become a full member and those who
believe that it has not offered in support of their conclusions. In
each case, the respondents were allowed to give up to two reasons.

Of those who said Russia had achieved equality in the G-8, 55 percent
said its size and enormous natural resources were the reason, 40
percent pointed to the country’s possession of nuclear weapons, and 32
percent noted the country’s powerful influence in world affairs, including
its status as a permanent member of the UN Security Council.

Only five percent said that Russia had achieved this status because it
had become one of the country’s with an advanced level of economic
development, and only 15 percent said that it had achieved equality in
the G-8 because of its level of development in science, education and
culture.

Of those saying that Russia had not yet achieved equal status with
other G-8 countries, 51 percent of the Russian sample pointed to their
country’s lower standard of living, 44 percent toRussia’s lag in
economic development, 16 percent to the country’s shortcomings as a
democracy, and 15 percent to the country’s unstable political
situation.

Only 17 percent – slightly more than one Russian in six who does not
believe that Russia is an equal member of the G-8 – suggested that
opposition to such a role for Russia in the West was responsible for
Russia’s less than equal status.

What is most striking about this poll is that those who see Russia as
having obtained equal standing in the G-8 view that organization as a
club of the most powerful countries of the world, while those who do
not see Russia as having achieved that status define the G-8 as an
organization of the leading industrial democracies.

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