Failed Crusade

Robert D. Kaplan

Cohen writes with bracing clarity on a subject obscured by euphemisms and double talk. —New York Times Book Review

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

When the Soviet Union collapsed nearly a decade ago, the U.S. adopted a policy of activist support for the successor regime of Boris Yeltsin and rarely questioned that strategy. Today, Russia is burdened with an economy in shambles, an alarming national health crisis and, many fear, nuclear insecurity. Anti-Americanism is on the rise and a career secret policeman heads the Kremlin, yet Washington has still not re-assessed its Russia policy. That worries Cohen, a Russia scholar with a track record for contrarian views. The end of the Cold War, he argues, exacted a harsher penalty on the Russian people than any military loss could have, and the "aid" proffered by the U.S., in the form of technocratic blueprints for free markets, is much to blame. In a chilling analogy, Cohen notes that the traditional role of the U.S. as ally to Russia is one in which Washington "pressured a collapsing Russia to remain in the carnage." Russia survived the allied blood-lettings of two World Wars, but Cohen sees the U.S.-prescribed "shock-therapy" as fatal. The result: societal and economic devastation so severe that it warrants a new Marshall Plan and threatens U.S. national security more than the Cold War ever did. Cohen's criticism is sharp and angry. He targets policy-makers and economic advisers for their ignorance of Russian history; he lambastes scholars for their misguided prognosis of Russia's progress; and he scorns foreign journalists for a more unforgivable sin--touting the "Washington Consensus" in spite of the growing catastrophe surrounding them. (Sept.) Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal

Cohen (Russian studies and history, New York Univ.) here presents an opinion not held by most U.S. officials and Russian "experts": that the so-called democratization of post-Soviet Russia has been a failure. The author lays out his theories in three parts: he describes how these experts crusaded for a Russia they wanted and, in doing so, managed to overlook what was really taking place in the country. Next, he includes a series of articles he has written since 1992, which further describes the actual political and economic upheaval that has been taking place there. Finally, he presents solutions to remedy Russia's woes and help bring it into the 21st century. Although Cohen is an accomplished author (Bukharin and the Bolshevik Revolution; Sovieticus: American Perceptions and Soviet Realities), his style tends to be gloating and melodramatic. However, this is a good collection that offers varying opinions of modern Russian history. For academic libraries.--Jill Jaracz, Chicago Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.\

Booknews

Cohen (Russian studies and history, New York U.) explores the results for Russia of the dissolution of the Soviet Union, and places some responsibility on the shoulders of the US for the failed reforms of the last decade. He argues that Russia, because of a failed US foreign policy, is now faced with one of the worst social, economic, and political crises of its history. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Sidney Kaplan

Cohen writes with bracing clarity on a subject obscured by euphemisms and double talk regarding Russia's so-called democratic renewal. It is precisely Cohen's insight about the Soviet system's deep roots in Russia's past -- an insight that in the 1980's helped blind him to Communism's irredeemable failure -- that has allowed him since the early 1990's to see that capitalist shock therapy would ultimately fail.
—New York Times Book Review

Kirkus Reviews

An incisive and occasionally caustic critique of American attitudes toward post-Soviet Russia.