Russia’s Changing Identity: In Search of a Role in the 21st Century

... way by Joseph Stalin. The fortress withstood and defeated the assault of Nazi Germany. Victory in World War II transformed the USSR into a world superpower, with a powerful nuclear-armed military, vast industry, an impressive technological capacity, and ... ... in the United Nations system, that is its position as a permanent veto-wielding member of the UN Security Council. In Russian history, the Soviet period stands out for two aberrations resulting from the communist ideology that the country’s leaders embraced ...