Restructuring Post-Communist Russia by Y. Brudny J. Frankel , S. Hoffman (review)

Abstract

REVIEWS I83 Urals and Siberian Okrugs).There is not enough space in this review to give greater details, but suffice it to say that each of the chapters continues the excellent quality exhibited in the firsthalf of the book in examining regional, centre and military relations. The details covering the financial predicament of the nuclear facilities, their vulnerabilityto utility outages, combined with the continual securitybreaches by criminal elements makes for a compelling read. The concluding chapter provides an invaluable summary combining the general problems confrontingthe Russian nuclear establishmentwith the specific conditions within each of the regions examined. The final section of the chapter discussesthe strategicimplicationsof the problems examined and provides several policy recommendationsfor the future. In sum, this book is one of those rare edited volumes that is extremelywell researched and well thought out with consistently high quality throughout that is a must read for those concerned with nuclearand/or Russian issues.It providesthe readerwith everythingthey need to know about Russia'snuclear complex but were afraid to ask (because some of the answersyou may not wish to hear). There are some minor criticisms. The main criticism is the positioning of the penultimate chapter on the implementation of the US Non-proliferation Assistance Programs, which examines the role of the Department of Defense and the Cooperative Threat Reduction programme in implementing the US assistance programmes and the problems they encountered in so doing. Given the topic of the chapter, it should reallyhave been placed in the first,more general, section. In addition, a list of abbreviations is missing, something essentialin a researcharea repletewith acronyms. Finally, a more detailed map of the regions than the one provided would improve the understandingof those who are workingin the nuclear field but are not Russian specialists. Department ofPolitics J. GLENN University of Southampton Brudny, Y., Frankel,J. and Hoffman, S. (eds). Restructuring Post-Communist Russia.CambridgeUniversityPress,Cambridgeand New York, 2004. xii + 286 pp. Figures.Tables. Notes. Index. f4o.oo: $6o.oo. THISFestschraft is devoted to Theodore H. Friedgut ('Ted' to friends and colleagues), a pioneer of work on Soviet politics outside Moscow, including an acclaimed history of Donetsk, who himself contributes an essay. Largely derivedfrom a conferenceheld at the Hebrew UniversityofJerusalem in May 200I in tribute to the dedicatee on his retirement,the contributions,updated in mid-2003, were edited by three of his formercolleagues.And a fine, stimulating collection it is, notwithstandingthe diversityof approach and style of scholarsfrom the United States, Israel, the UK and Russia. The unifying theme is the road covered by Russia towardsthe democracy and market economy aimed for after the Communist system undertook perestroikain the late I98os. Specialists on those countries have been preoccupied with either prescribing the way forward, or attempting to explain 184 SEER, 85, I, 2007 the failure. Within individual disciplines scholars apply approaches and test models that by definition focus on a restricted range of variables, opening themselves to challenge not only by their fellows but also by representatives of other disciplines.A multi-disciplinaryapproach undertakenby a single scholar or by a group working in parallel is not confined to models and approaches from a particularschool, and the resultmay be a more satisfying composite picture, providingbetter 'understanding'than the 'explanations'of individual disciplines. Human society is, after all, a complex whole, and a narrow focus is unlikely to identify all features affecting its functioning and development. The work of the dozen scholarsincluded here gives individual insights, and constitutesa complex picture. Opening the collection, Peter Rutland identifies three simultaneous processes: economic transformation, democratization and nation-building, influencing one another and interacting with social processes as individuals pursue their lives in new circumstances. They have also been taking place in a world anxious for the transitionto succeed, satisfiedwith relativelylow signals of success, and willing to overlookweaknesses.Anatoly M. Khazanov argues that the post-totalitarian state is weak where it should be strong (upholdinglegality and pursuingcoherent policies)and strongwhere it should be weak (continuingcontrol over the economy and a willingnessto cut legal corners).AlexanderJ. Motyl gloomily looks acrosspost-Communiststatesand concludes (p. 67)that 'prospectsfor democracyin the formerSoviet space look decidedly bleak', while Valerie Bunce, searching for the specific features of post-Communist transitions,picks up nationalism as a key...