Restructuring Post-Communist Russia

Written by Russian and Western scholars, this collection of original essays presents a general overview of political change in Russia since 1991. Rather than interpret the collapse of state socialism as "the end of history" or the beginning of the "transition" to a liberal, free market democracy, the contributors examine recent Russian history by analyzing it in comparison with the histories of other states of the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. They address topics of national identity, demographic change, and the characteristics of Russian democracy.

Since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, the question of 'whither Russia?' has been the source of ceaseless speculation both at home and abroad.