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Overview
Examining the strategies employed by Mikhail Gorbachev and Boris Yeltsin to build leadership authority, George Breslauer focuses on the power of ideas, as leaders use them to mobilize support and to craft an image as effective problem solvers, indispensable consensus builders, and symbols of national unity. Throughout the book, Breslauer compares Gorbachev and Yeltsin, and Khrushchev and Brezhnev, analyzing the changes in policy, the strategies, and the political dilemmas that are common to all four administrations. He addresses such questions as: Could Yeltsin have pursued a more beneficial path to a market economy, despite Western advisors and actions of the International Monetary Fund? For the chapters about Gorbachev, Breslauer was able to interview former members of the leader's politburo, including those who plotted Gorbachev's overthrow. Interested in how leaders make changes, Breslauer looks at how these leaders justified their actions and outflanked their opponents. Breslauer sheds new light on the end of Soviet communism and Russia's transition to a market economy. George W. Breslauer, is Dean of Social Sciences and Professor at the University of California, Berkeley. He has written and edited ten books about Soviet and post-Soviet politics and foreign policy, including Counterfactual Thought Experiments in World Politics (Princeton University Press, 1996) and Khrushchev and Brezhnev as Leaders (London: Allen and Unwin, 1982). In 1998, he was awarded the Chancellor's Professorship for combining excellence in research, teaching, and university service and was most recently appointed Dean of Social Sciences at Berkeley.Editorials
From the Publisher
"George Breslauer's Gorbachev and Yeltsin as Leaders is the most insightful analysis of recent Russian statecraft yet to appear. Unlike many scholars who treat Gorbachev and Yeltsin as either heroes or failures, Breslauer carefully balances their successes and their shortcomings, examines conflicting interpretations of events, and offers a fascinating comparison of their respective styles of leadership. The book is a landmark in the study of political leadership and of Russian politics. It cannot be ignored by anyone seriously interested in present-day Russia." Jack F. Matlock, Jr., Visiting Professor, Princeton University, Former U.S. Ambassador to the Soviet Union"George Breslauer offers a fascinating and intelligent analysis of Mikhail Gorbachev and Boris Yeltsin as leaders. In a systematic way, he evaluates their strategies for mobilizing support, developing their authority and pursuing their goals. Both leaders were far more successful at building their initial power than at sustaining it. And both were far more adept at destroying the political order they inherited than in constructing new institutions and a more promising political and econimic reality. Professor Breslauer's assessment of them as leaders--given the constraints they faced--adds to our understanding of who these men were, whether things could have been different, and the potential in Russia more generally." Dennis Ross, The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, Former Director of the State Department's Policy Planning Office, and Special Middle East Coordinator
"This is the first book that puts Boris Yeltsin's leadership of Russia solidly into a historical perspective, and it's likely to be the best for a long time to come. It's more than a work of history: its insights into the forces that have shaped Russia's transition are of direct relevance to the task of charting U.S. and Western policy toward that process as it continues." Strobe Talbot, Yale University, Former Deputy Secretary of State
"George Breslauer has provided an exceptionally clear-headed analysis of Gorbachev and Yeltsin as transformational leaders. He brings to this interpretation and evaluation of their historic roles both impressive insight and deep understanding of the Soviet and post-Soviet political context." Archie Brown, Oxford University
"This will be the definitive work on the fascinating struggle for power and the fate of Russia between Mikhail Gorbachev and Boris Yeltsin. Breslauer presents a balanced assessment of these two 'transformational' leaders, who both experienced early success and subsequent disillusion." Choice
"[Breslauer's] analysis is perceptive, and his conclusions are convincing and well-supported. He provides an excellent overview of the way Gorbachev and Yeltsin governed their respective countries." Political Science Quarterly
"Breslauer does not disappoint-this is an excellent book on every front. Exceptionally written and eminently accessible to th nonspecialist...an immensely enjoyable read." Rachel Walker, University of Essex, The Russian Review
"Breslauer...makes giant strides in clearing up the mysteries surrounding the fall of communism and the rise of "democratic" leadership." Library Journal