Understanding Post-Soviet Transitions: Corruption, Collusion and Clientelism by Christoph H. Stefes (review)

Abstract

174 SEER, 87, I, JANUARY 200g considering a 'Russian-driven' perspective, the author loses a wealth of evidence on the Belarusian side that otherwise could have only enriched his study. In his introduction, Danilovich briefly elucidates the reasons for excluding Belarus from his systemic analysis suggesting that the latterbehaves more like a unitary actor 'whose domestic forces seem to overwhelmingly sup port unification with Russia' (pp. 7-8). The statement is,however, erroneous, resulting in exclusion of an influential player from a two-country game, who ? ifnot in size ? has been equally challenging the pace of integration and itsfinale, which the author contradictorily admits to in the concluding chapter of the book (p. 166). By considering one side of the story the study, unfortunately, remains somewhat incomplete. Finally, although elegandy and persuasively undertaken, the study suffers from someminor inaccuracies and ambiguities. These include: confusion over the use of the verb 'affect' (pp. 2; 82); confusion in relation to the destiny of a 'sacked' or voluntarily 'retired'Vice Prime Minister Egor Gaidar (p. 41); confusion over the Belavezha agreement signed by the presidentsof Russia, Belarus and Ukraine [...] in 1991 (the presidency in Belarus was only insti tuted in 1994) (p. 43); an unclear historical account of the Belarus National Assembly (p. 116); lack of unification in the spelling of some names: Jirinovsky (p. 165) or Zhirinovsky (p. 166 and elsewhere). At times,Danilovich's commentary dips into tabloid journalism, resorting to some popular statements like 'in Europe, it is peoples that get integrated not their presidents', and 'democracy [...] will lead people to a new radiant future' (p. 168). Furthermore, itwould have benefited the project if the author had also included a more recent bibliography (post-2000) to reflect or indeed irrefutablyverify his assumptions about the future of Russia-Belarus integration. Overall, however, the book excels in providing a comprehensive account of foreign policy strategies employed by both Russia and Belarus in the course of their failed integration heavily determined by their domestic agenda. The study isundoubtedly an essential read for students of East European politics, but also is highly recommended to all those interested in exploring connec tions between international relations and comparative politics, forwhich the book provides ample opportunities drawing on the domestic struggle for power as a base for international decision-making. Department ofInternational Politics Elena Korosteleva Universityof Aberystwyth Stefes, Christoph H. Understanding Post-SovietTransitions:Corruption, Collusion and Clientelism.Euro-Asian Studies. Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke and New York, 2006. xii + 211 pp. Figures. Tables. Notes. Bibliography. Index. ?55.00. There is no reason to suppose that the centuries-, not to say millennia-old relationship between the small neighbouring communities ofArmenians and Georgians south of the Caucasus mountain range will ever have been other REVIEWS 175 than it is today, namely one of intense, universal rivalry.Who was first to adopt Christianity? Whose is the older script? Into which language was the Bible firsttranslated?Did one nation's styleof ecclesiastical architecture derive from that of the other and, ifso,who lent and who borrowed? If these bones of contention represent the noble end of the scale, Christoph H. Stefes plumbs itsnadir by contrasting the two in terms of the nature of corruption in their post-Soviet states. Of the former Soviet republics the three Baltic states are judged themost successful in freeing themselves from any legacy of corruption following fifty years in the Kremlin's shackles. Transcaucasia suffered an additional two decades of Soviet rule which, after a brief period of independence, followed over a century of tsarist domination. Stefes takes for his case-study Armenia and Georgia, two states of comparable size with many historical and cultural links,both ofwhich are close to the West, albeit in differentways: Armenia, thanks (in part at least) to notorious developments in the last decades of the Ottoman Empire, has a large and influentialdiaspora inboth Europe (France) and America; Georgians, though theydo not speak (unlike theArmenians) an Indo-European language, see themselves as more European than Asian, and from March 1992 toNovember 2003 the republic had as head of stateEduard Shevardnadze, the West's blue-eyed boy for the role he was perceived to have played as Gorbachev's Foreign Minister in helping...