Abstract
When talking about democratization in Russia, I consider myself as one of the early skeptical realists. I support democratic ideals and free enterprise, but insist on realistic observation of what is actually taking place in the former Soviet Union (USSR). For years I had been observing civil-military relations and armed conflict. I had frank discussions with Soviet colleagues, civilian, and military professionals just before, during, and after the dismantling of the Soviet state. I felt that Western writers tended to lean too far in one of two directions. Some were excessively optimistic about the extent to which Russia had changed. Others were overly pessimistic and predicting an imminent Fascist dictatorship and a resurgence in Russian imperialism.
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Notes
Mikhail Gorbachëv, Memoirs (New York: Doubleday, 1996), p. 175.
The best work to date on Russia’s elections is Stephen White, Richard Rose & Ian McAllister, How Russia Votes (Chatham, NJ: Chatham House, 1997), especially Chapter II.
Robert V. Barylski, The Soldier in Russian Politics: 1985–1996 (Rutgers, NJ: Transaction, 1997).
Lt. General (Ret.) Aleksandr Lebed, Za derzhavu obidno (Moscow: Moskover-suskaya Pravda, 1995), p. 215–217.
Robert V. Barylski, “The Soviet Military before and after the August Coup: Departization and Decentralization,” in The Armed Forces and Society, vol. 19, no. 1 (1992): p. 27–45.
Yegor Gaidar, Gosudarstvo i evolyutsiya (Moscow: Evrazia, 1995); Dmitry Fur-man’s “Nasha strannaya revolyutsiya” (“Our strange revolution”) in Svobodnaya mysl’ (Free Thought) no. 1 (1993): p. 8–19. Svobodnaya mysl’ is published by the Gorbachëv Foundation. It is the successor to Kommunist, the theoretical journal of the Central Committee of the CPSU.
See the very interesting study of this phenomenon by Olga Kryshtanovskaya & Stephen White, “From Soviet Nomenklatura to Russian Élite,” in Europe-Asia Studies, vol. 48, no. 5 (1996): p. 711–733.
Yegor Gaidar, Gosudarstvo i evolutsiya (state and evolution) (Moscow: Evrazia, 1995).
David Lane, “The Transformation of Russia: The Role of the Political Élite,” in Europe-Asia Studies, vol. 48, no. 4 (1996): p. 535–549.
Michael McFaul, “state Power, Institutional Change and the Politics of Privatization in Russia,” in World Politics, vol. 47 (January 1956): p. 210–243.
Robert V. Barylski, “The Russian Federation and Eurasia’s Islamic Crescent,” in Europe Asia Studies, vol. 46, no. 3 (1994): p. 389–416.
Tatyana Malikin, “Personal: Aleksandr Korzhakov Believes the Presidential Election Should be Postponed,” in Sevodnya (6 May 1996); CDSP, vol. XLVII, no. 18 (1996): p. 1.
Reported by Stephen Kiselyov, “Instant Analysis: A Warning Shot to the Head,” in Izvestiya (7 May 1996); CDSP, vol. XLVIII, no. 18 (1996): p. 1–3.
B. A. Berezoversusky et al., “Get Out Of The Impasse!” in Kommersant-Daily (27 April 1996); CDSP, vol. XLVIII, no. 17 (1996): p. 1.
Stefan Hedlung & Niclas Sundstrom, “The Russian Economy after Systemic Change,” in Europe-Asia Studies, vol. 48, no. 6 (1996): p. 87–93.
rl Pyotr Rodionov as cited by Patrick Crow, “Oil: Russian Energy Sector’s Weaker Sister?” in Oil and Gas Journal (13 January 1997): p. 32.
Aleksandr Pel’ts, “Prezident Rossii provel zasedanie VchK,” in Krasnaya zvezda (27 December 1996).
Oleg Vladykin, “Ministr oborony RF Igor’ Rodionov: ‘Sokhranit’ tot fundament, na kotorom postroim dostoinuyu Rossii armiyu,” in Krasnaya zvezda (25 February 1997).
Michael Satchell, “Kremlin Gilt—Or Is It Guilt?” in U.S. News & World Report (20 September 1999): p. 36–37;
Anne Nivat, “Dodging Death in the War Zone,” in U.S. News & World Report (15 November 1999): p. 38–39.
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© 1999 Marco Rimanelli
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Barylski, R.V. (1999). The Russian Case: Élite Self-Emancipation. In: Rimanelli, M. (eds) Comparative Democratization and Peaceful Change in Single-Party-Dominant Countries. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780312292676_8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780312292676_8
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