Book Reviews : Russia in Search of its Future edited by Amin Saikal and William Maley. Cambridge University Press. 1995. 239pp. £30.00 cloth; £10.95 paper
| Author | Nigel Clive |
| Date | 01 December 1995 |
| DOI | 10.1177/004711789501200610 |
| Published date | 01 December 1995 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
112
attention
paid
to
the
problem
by
the
academic
community.
Fred
Parkinson’s
con-
tribution,
as
well
as
other
chapters
of
this
book,
can
most
certainly
be
considered
a
positive
attempt
to
fill
this
gap.
Institute
of
International
Relations
Moscow
VLADIMIR
MATVEEV
Russia
in
Search
of
its
Future
edited
by
Amin
Saikal
and
William
Maley.
Cambridge
University
Press.
1995.
239pp.
£30.00
cloth;
£10.95
paper.
This
book
is
based
on
a
Conference
held
at
the
Australian
National
University
in
Canberra
in
December
1993.
The
participants
were
all
distinguished
scholars
whose
closely
researched
contributions
were
largely
drawn
from
Russian
sources.
The
book’s
title
is
well
chosen
because
a
maelstrom
of
complex
forces,
political,
economic,
sociocultural
and
international,
will
determine
which
of
its
possible
futures
actually
eventuates.
Although
some
of
the
texts
have
been
updated
to
the
spring
of
1994,
they
do
not
touch
on
the
key
issue
of
Yeltsin’s
handling
of
Russian
military
intervention
in
the
Republic
of
Chechnya
in
December
1994.
Professor
Obolonsky
from
the
Russian
Academy
of
Sciences
examines
the
modus
operandi
of
the
Soviet
regime,
embodying
the
non-freedom
of
information
and
the
total
dependence
of
the
individual
on
the
state.
He
claims
that
the
Soviets
invented
nothing
new;
they
merely
modernized
the
ancient
absolutist
traditions.
The
deep
structure
of
Russian
conservatism
has
meant
that
the
new
Russia
has
inherited
a
lack
of
respect
for
and
faith
in
the
law.
The
long
tradition
of
unlimited
bureaucratic
government
explains
why
Russia
has
no
serious
tradition
of
the
peaceful
coexistence
of
authority
and
opposition.
Despite
the
impressive
number
of
parties
and
blocs
which
took
part
in
the
December
1993
election
campaign,
there
is
only
a
quasi
multi-party
system
with
the
danger
of
a
new
uncontrollable
oligarchy.
Archie
Brown’s
comments
on
political
leadership
in
post-communist
Russia
show
that
Yeltsin
had
a
number
of
advantages
that
were
not
available
to
Gorbachev,
as
a
result
of
the
failure
of
the
August
1991
coup.
Above
all,
he
did
not
have
to
deal
with
a
power-wielding
Communist
Party.
Yeltsin further
demonstrated
his
strength
by
for-
cibly
dissolving
the
Congress
of
People’s
Deputies
and
the
Supreme
Soviet
in
September
1993.
But
lack
of
agreement
on
the
locus
of
legitimate
power
helped
to
discourage
the
large
scale
foreign
investment
which
Russia
so
badly
needs.
If
public
opinion
studies
show
a
decline
in
Yeltsin’s
popularity
between
1991
and
1993,
his
per-
sonal
standing
has
run
ahead
of
support
for
the
policies
of
his
government.
Support
for
the
semi-fascist
Zhirinovsky
prevented
a
communist
landslide.
The
way
in
which
the
executive-legislative
deadlock
was
ended
in
September-October
1993
has
added
to
the
difficulty
of
establishing
a
rule
of
law
within
Russian
society.
William
Maley
on
the
shape
of
the
Russian
macro-economy
points
out
the
highly
perturbing
economic
inheritance
of
Gorbachev’s
successor,
and
Robert
Miller
argues
that
agriculture
is
fated
to
resume
its
status
as
one
of
the
blackest
of the
black
holes
of
the
Russian
economy.
Stephen
Fortescue
then
examines
privatization
of
large-scale
Russian
industry
and
concludes
that
since
the
December
1993
elections,
there
is
a
danger
that
work-force
ownership
will
be
replaced
by
hierarchical
and
subsidy-
orientated
structures,
making
the
ultimate
outcome
of
privatization
far
from
clear.
From
Soviet
to
Russian
foreign
policy
is
the
theme
chosen
by
Amin
Saikal
and
William
Maley.
While
Gorbachev’s
’new
thinking’
made
a
striking
casualty
of
the
Brezhnev
Doctrine,
in
contrast
with
the
past,
Yeltsin
and
Kozyrev
cannot
ignore
public
opinion
and
the
strong
views
of
the
Russian
Ministry
of
Defence
on
such
issues
as
the
expansion
of
NATO,
the
Partnership
for
Peace
and
the
civil
war
in
Bosnia.
They
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