Russia S Transition To Democracy And U S Russia Relations

Foreword by Sir Brian Fall GCVO KCMG, HM Ambassador, Moscow, 19921995; Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford As a reference work there is little currently available to match its detailed chronological style. Royal Institute of International Affairs Thoroughly deserving of a place on reading lists for courses on recent Russian history. Archie Brown, St Antonys College, Oxford This book is a concise account of the collapse of the USSR and the turbulent first years of Yeltsins Russia. Written by a Foreign Office expert, Russias transition to democracy is charted through an exhaustive analysis of the mistakes made by, and the problems faced by, all political groupings. Western responses to events, and their effect on the internal Russian political scene, are scrutinized and judged.

Since the end of the Cold War NATO has redefined its raison d’etre, extending its membership, broadening its political goals and widening its zone of operation. It has also sought to enhance its co-operation with Russia, for example through the NATO-Russia Council, though moves here have coincided with factors which make co-operation more difficult, such as growing uncertainty about the transition to democracy in Russia, a feeling among some people in Russia that NATO enlargement and the simultaneous diminution of Russia’s influence were related, and, more recently, Russia’s attempts to reassert its influence over its neighbouring states. This book examines the current state of relations between NATO and Russia, examining a number of key areas, and assesses the prospects for future development. It concludes that all parties have a powerful interest in building and maintaining security, and that the growth of the zone of democracy holds out the best hope for solving some of Russia’s most seminal security concerns.

Contents: democratic reform of government and politics (is Russian democratic reform vital to the U.S.? toward democratic government in Russia, and in the Ukraine); democratic reform of economy and society (impediments to free-market economy in Russia; Russia's banking and financial crisis; Russia's black market; economic assistance to Russia; managing reform in Russia's defense industries: conversion and arms sales); democratic reform of military and foreign policy (the democratic transition of Russia's military; transformation of Ukraine's military; managing the evolution of Russia's military; Russia and the CIS).

What went wrong in Russia's decade-old post-communist transition? A group of leading young scholars answer this question by offering assessments of five crucial political arenas during the Yeltsin era: elections, executive-legislative relations, interactions between the central state and the regions, economic reforms, and civil-military relations. All of the contributors recognize that adverse historical legacies have complicated Russian democratization. They challenge structural explanations that emphasize constraints of the pre-existing system, however, and concentrate instead on the importance of elite decisions and institution-building. The authors agree that elites' failure to develop robust political institutions has been a central problem of Russia's post-communist transition. The weakness of the state and its institutions has contributed to a number of serious problems threatening democratic consolidation. These include the tensions between the executive and the legislature, the frail infrastructure for successful market reform, and the absence of proper civilian control over the armed forces.

For almost half a century, the Iron Curtain had separated Americans and Russians by barriers of misunderstanding, suspicion and alienation. The accession of Mikhail Gorbachev to power in the mid-1980s signalled the beginning of a revolutionary stage in American-Soviet relations. In the course of the following two decades Americans and Russians would interact to an extent never anticipated and come to call each other partners, or even friends. The word friendship, however, is often used superficially. This book provides a more profound answer to the question of how, from the American perspective, the image of, and the relationship to, Russia have changed since the former adversary "opened its doors" to the West. Ullmann not only reveals how the American public's attitudes toward Russia or the scope of people-to-people contacts have changed, she also analyses to what extent Americans have been able to learn about Russia in the mass media and to what extent they have been interested in studying Russian culture and language.

For hundreds of years, dictators have ruled Russia. Do they still? In the late 1980s, Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev launched a series of political reforms that eventually allowed for competitive elections, the emergence of an independent press, the formation of political parties, and the sprouting of civil society. After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, these proto-democratic institutions endured in an independent Russia. But did the processes unleashed by Gorbachev and continued under Russian President Boris Yeltsin lead eventually to liberal democracy in Russia? If not, what kind of political regime did take hold in post-Soviet Russia? And how has Vladimir Putin's rise to power influenced the course of democratic consolidation or the lack thereof? Between Dictatorship and Democracy seeks to give a comprehensive answer to these fundamental questions about the nature of Russian politics.