Russia's Unfinished Revolution: Political Change from Gorbachev to Putin by Michael McFaul
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Textbook (Hardcover)
- 400pp
TEXTBOOK INFORMATION
- ISBN-13: 9780801439001
- Edition Number: 1
- Pub. Date: January 2001
- Publisher: Cornell University Press
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Product Details
- Pub. Date: January 2001
- Publisher: Cornell University Press
- Format: Textbook Hardcover, 400pp
- ISBN-13: 9780801439001
- ISBN: 0801439000
- Edition Number: 1
Synopsis
For centuries, dictators ruled Russia. Tsars and Communist Party chiefs were in charge for so long some analysts claimed Russians had a cultural predisposition for authoritarian leaders. Yet, as a result of reforms initiated by Mikhail Gorbachev, new political institutions have emerged that now require election of political leaders and rule by constitutional procedures. Michael McFaul traces Russia's tumultuous political history from Gorbachev's rise to power in 1985 through the 1999 resignation of Boris Yeltsin in favor of Vladimir Putin.
McFaul divides his account of the post-Soviet country into three periods: the Gorbachev era (1985-1991), the First Russian Republic (1991-1993), and the Second Russian Republic (1993-present). The first two were, he believes, failures--failed institutional emergence or failed transitions to democracy. By contrast, new democratic institutions did emerge in the third era, though not the institutions of a liberal democracy. McFaul contends that any explanation for Russia's successes in shifting to democracy must also account for its failures. The Russian/Soviet case, he says, reveals the importance of forging social pacts; the efforts of Russian elites to form alliances failed, leading to two violent confrontations and a protracted transition from communism to democracy.
McFaul spent a great deal of time in Moscow in the 1990s and witnessed firsthand many of the events he describes. This experience, combined with frequent visits since and unparalleled access to senior Russian policymakers and politicians, has resulted in an astonishingly well-informed account. Russia's Unfinished Revolution is a comprehensive history of Russia during this crucial period.
Library Journal
McFaul was a U.S. student in Moscow during the eventful years that saw the collapse of the Soviet Union and the birth of its Russian successor, a process that he describes, rather surprisingly, as "a social revolution on the scale of other great revolutions of the modern era." His book retraces the political history of those daysand the subsequent decade of what he terms the First and Second Russian Republics, divided by Boris Yeltsin's October 1993 assault on the Russian White House. He has done an immense amount of research, and his narrative is dense and solidly anchored in a detailed bibliography. He perhaps underestimates the Russian proclivity for authoritarian state leadership, but he is unambiguously clear about President Putin's antidemocratic tastes. His book complements Steven Fish's Democracy from Scratch (Princeton Univ., 1994) and carries the often discouraging tale of Russia's quest for democracy forward to the new century. For academic libraries and political science specialists. Robert Johnston, McMaster Univ., Hamilton, Ont. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.
More Reviews and RecommendationsCustomer Reviews
Russia's Unfinished Revolution: Political Change from Gorbachev to Putinby Anonymous
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June 04, 2003: The subtitle title of the book, 'political change from Gorbachev to Putin', defines what you expect to find between it's pages. Only that's not what's covered. McFaul covers the Gorbechev years, as well as Yeltsen's presidency -- but only until 1996. There is virtually nothing after 1996. I would expect that Putin's coverage would be light, given a publication date of 2001, but to skip over Yeltsen's final years is simply neglegent.
By giving only a few sentances to the 'Shares for Rubles' program, he skips over the criminal neglegance and fraud that occured. This behavior had strong impacts on the Russian economy, which directly caused the crash of their economy in 1998. This crash is skipped over completely -- possibly because at the time, as a reporter, McFaul was cheering Anatoly Chubais the mastermind and archetect behind the economic reforms. (If Chubais attempted to do what he did in the US, he would be spending a lot of time behind bars.) In short, it looks like McFaul is skipping over the time period when his journalism was (effectively) cheering on the corruption.
The complete failure of the economy (which -- to reiterate -- was skipped over completely), combined with the treatment of the oligarchs (also skipped over) directly led shaped the Russian perception of democracy and the free market. These factors also directly effected the conclusions at the end of his book, but he presents no explination as to why the results are so bad -- probably because the explination would involve covering the ground he choose to skip over. To skip over these major milestones is unforgivable for an author who is attempting to track the political and economic reforms in Russia.
He also skips over such minor events as the civil war in Serbia and the Second Chechan War (also a civil war, this one against Russia!).
On the positive side, he does give a lot of good information, and there are a lot of references to look up additional data. I would recommend this book for someone researching Russia up to, but not after, Yeltsen's re-election. And even then, it helps to have an idea of the issues he doesn't talk about.
Russia's Unfinished Revolution: Political Change from Gorbachev to Putinby Anonymous
Reader Rating:
See Detailed Ratings
May 22, 2003: The subtitle title of the book, 'political change from Gorbachev to Putin', defines what you expect to find between it's pages. Only that's not what's covered. McFaul covers the Gorbechev years, as well as Yeltsen's presidency -- but only until 1996. There is virtually nothing after 1996. I would expect that Putin's coverage would be light, given a publication date of 2001, but to skip over Yeltsen's final years is simply neglegent.
By giving only a few sentances to the 'Shares for Rubles' program, he skips over the criminal neglegance and fraud that occured. This behavior had strong impacts on the Russian economy, which directly caused the crash of their economy in 1998. This crash is skipped over completely -- possibly because at the time, as a reporter, McFaul was cheering Anatoly Chubais the mastermind and archetect behind the economic reforms. (If Chubais attempted to do what he did in the US, he would be spending a lot of time behind bars.) In short, it looks like McFaul is skipping over the time period when his journalism was (effectively) cheering on the corruption.
The complete failure of the economy (which -- to reiterate -- was skipped over completely), combined with the treatment of the oligarchs (also skipped over) directly led shaped the Russian perception of democracy and the free market. These factors also directly effected the conclusions at the end of his book, but he presents no explination as to why the results are so bad -- probably because the explination would involve covering the ground he choose to skip over. To skip over these major milestones is unforgivable for an author who is attempting to track the political and economic reforms in Russia.
On the positive side, he does give a lot of good information, and there are a lot of references to look up additional data. I would recommend this book for someone researching Russia up to, but not after, Yeltsen's re-election. And even then, it helps to have an idea of the issues he doesn't talk about.
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