The Struggle To Save The Soviet Economy

Author : Chris Miller
Publisher : UNC Press Books
Page : 262 pages
File Size : 53,6 Mb
Release : 2016-10-13
Category : History
ISBN : 9781469630182

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The Struggle to Save the Soviet Economy by Chris Miller Pdf

For half a century the Soviet economy was inefficient but stable. In the late 1980s, to the surprise of nearly everyone, it suddenly collapsed. Why did this happen? And what role did Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev's economic reforms play in the country's dissolution? In this groundbreaking study, Chris Miller shows that Gorbachev and his allies tried to learn from the great success story of transitions from socialism to capitalism, Deng Xiaoping's China. Why, then, were efforts to revitalize Soviet socialism so much less successful than in China? Making use of never-before-studied documents from the Soviet politburo and other archives, Miller argues that the difference between the Soviet Union and China--and the ultimate cause of the Soviet collapse--was not economics but politics. The Soviet government was divided by bitter conflict, and Gorbachev, the ostensible Soviet autocrat, was unable to outmaneuver the interest groups that were threatened by his economic reforms. Miller's analysis settles long-standing debates about the politics and economics of perestroika, transforming our understanding of the causes of the Soviet Union's rapid demise.

Author : Chris Miller
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 0 pages
File Size : 47,8 Mb
Release : 2020-08
Category : Perestroĭka
ISBN : 1469661535

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The Struggle to Save the Soviet Economy by Chris Miller Pdf

For half a century the Soviet economy was inefficient but stable. In the late 1980s, to the surprise of nearly everyone, it suddenly collapsed. Why did this happen? And what role did Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev's economic reforms play in the country's dissolution? In this groundbreaking study, Chris Miller shows that Gorbachev and his allies tried to learn from the great success story of transitions from socialism to capitalism, Deng Xiaoping's China. Why, then, were efforts to revitalize Soviet socialism so much less successful than in China? Making use of never-before-studied documents from the Soviet politburo and other archives, Miller argues that the difference between the Soviet Union and China--and the ultimate cause of the Soviet collapse--was not economics but politics. The Soviet government was divided by bitter conflict, and Gorbachev, the ostensible Soviet autocrat, was unable to outmaneuver the interest groups that were threatened by his economic reforms. Miller's analysis settles long-standing debates about the politics and economics of perestroika, transforming our understanding of the causes of the Soviet Union's rapid demise.

Author : Chris Miller (Research fellow)
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 0 pages
File Size : 52,5 Mb
Release : 2020
Category : Electronic
ISBN : 9798890852083

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The Struggle to Save the Soviet Economy by Chris Miller (Research fellow) Pdf

Author : Chris Miller
Publisher : UNC Press Books
Page : 238 pages
File Size : 55,7 Mb
Release : 2018-02-08
Category : History
ISBN : 9781469640679

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Putinomics by Chris Miller Pdf

When Vladimir Putin first took power in 1999, he was a little-known figure ruling a country that was reeling from a decade and a half of crisis. In the years since, he has reestablished Russia as a great power. How did he do it? What principles have guided Putin's economic policies? What patterns can be discerned? In this new analysis of Putin's Russia, Chris Miller examines its economic policy and the tools Russia's elite have used to achieve its goals. Miller argues that despite Russia's corruption, cronyism, and overdependence on oil as an economic driver, Putin's economic strategy has been surprisingly successful. Explaining the economic policies that underwrote Putin's two-decades-long rule, Miller shows how, at every juncture, Putinomics has served Putin's needs by guaranteeing economic stability and supporting his accumulation of power. Even in the face of Western financial sanctions and low oil prices, Putin has never been more relevant on the world stage.

Author : Vladislav M. Zubok
Publisher : Yale University Press
Page : 468 pages
File Size : 55,8 Mb
Release : 2021-11-30
Category : History
ISBN : 9780300262445

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Collapse by Vladislav M. Zubok Pdf

A major study of the collapse of the Soviet Union—showing how Gorbachev’s misguided reforms led to its demise “A deeply informed account of how the Soviet Union fell apart.”—Rodric Braithwaite, Financial Times “[A] masterly analysis.”—Joshua Rubenstein, Wall Street Journal In 1945 the Soviet Union controlled half of Europe and was a founding member of the United Nations. By 1991, it had an army four million strong with five thousand nuclear-tipped missiles and was the second biggest producer of oil in the world. But soon afterward the union sank into an economic crisis and was torn apart by nationalist separatism. Its collapse was one of the seismic shifts of the twentieth century. Thirty years on, Vladislav Zubok offers a major reinterpretation of the final years of the USSR, refuting the notion that the breakup of the Soviet order was inevitable. Instead, Zubok reveals how Gorbachev’s misguided reforms, intended to modernize and democratize the Soviet Union, deprived the government of resources and empowered separatism. Collapse sheds new light on Russian democratic populism, the Baltic struggle for independence, the crisis of Soviet finances—and the fragility of authoritarian state power.

Author : George W. Breslauer
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 335 pages
File Size : 53,9 Mb
Release : 2016-06-10
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9781134875726

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Khrushchev and Brezhnev as Leaders (Routledge Revivals) by George W. Breslauer Pdf

First published in 1982, this book explores how Khrushchev and Brezhnev manipulated their policies and personal images as they attempted to consolidate their authority as leader. Central issues of Soviet domestic politics are examined: investment priorities, incentive policy, administrative reform, and political participation. The author rejects the conventional images of Khrushchev as an embattled consumer advocate and decentraliser, and of Brezhnev’s leadership as dull and conservative. He looks at how they dealt with the task of devising programs that combined the post-Stalin elite’s goals of consumer satisfaction and expanded political participation with traditional Soviet values.

Author : David Kotz,Fred Weir
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 440 pages
File Size : 44,9 Mb
Release : 2007-05-07
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 9781135992057

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Russia's Path from Gorbachev to Putin by David Kotz,Fred Weir Pdf

Over the past few years, many of the former Communist-rule countries of Central and Eastern Europe have taken a steady path toward becoming more or less normal capitalist countries - with Poland and Hungary cases in point. Russia, on the other hand, has experienced extreme difficulties in its attempted transition to capitalism and democracy. The pursuit of Western-endorsed policies of privatization, liberalization and fiscal austerity have brought Russia growing crime and corruption, a distorted economy and a trend toward authoritarian government. In their 1996 book - Revolution from Above - David Kotz and Fred Weir shed light on the underlying reasons for the 1991 demise of the Soviet Union and the severe economic and political problems of the immediate post-Soviet period in Russia. In this new book, the authors bring the story up-to-date, showing how continuing misguided policies have entrenched a group of super-rich oligarchs, in alliance with an all-powerful presidency, while further undermining Russia's economic potential. New topics include the origins of the oligarchs, the deep penetration of crime and corruption in Russian society, the financial crisis that almost destroyed the regime, the mixed blessing of an oil-dependent economy, the atrophy of democracy in the Yeltsin years, and the recentralization of political power in the Kremlin under President Putin.

Author : Gal Beckerman
Publisher : HMH
Page : 824 pages
File Size : 51,9 Mb
Release : 2010-09-23
Category : History
ISBN : 9780547504438

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When They Come for Us, We'll Be Gone by Gal Beckerman Pdf

The “remarkable” story of the grass-roots movement that freed millions of Jews from the Soviet Union (The Plain Dealer). At the end of World War II, nearly three million Jews were trapped inside the USSR. They lived a paradox—unwanted by a repressive Stalinist state, yet forbidden to leave. When They Come for Us, We’ll Be Gone is the astonishing and inspiring story of their rescue. Journalist Gal Beckerman draws on newly released Soviet government documents as well as hundreds of oral interviews with refuseniks, activists, Zionist “hooligans,” and Congressional staffers. He shows not only how the movement led to a mass exodus in 1989, but also how it shaped the American Jewish community, giving it a renewed sense of spiritual purpose and teaching it to flex its political muscle. Beckerman also makes a convincing case that the effort put human rights at the center of American foreign policy for the very first time, helping to end the Cold War. This “wide-ranging and often moving” book introduces us to all the major players, from the flamboyant Meir Kahane, head of the paramilitary Jewish Defense League, to Soviet refusenik Natan Sharansky, who labored in a Siberian prison camp for over a decade, to Lynn Singer, the small, fiery Long Island housewife who went from organizing local rallies to strong-arming Soviet diplomats (The New Yorker). This “excellent” multigenerational saga, filled with suspense and packed with revelations, provides an essential missing piece of Cold War and Jewish history (The Washington Post).

Author : Michael Ellman,Vladimir Kontorovich
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 350 pages
File Size : 50,8 Mb
Release : 2015-02-24
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9781317457480

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The Destruction of the Soviet Economic System: An Insider's History by Michael Ellman,Vladimir Kontorovich Pdf

The inside story of the political collpase of the Soviet Union is far better understood than the course of economic and social disintegration. In order to capture the story, the editors compiled a list of questions which they addressed to former top Soviet officials and economic and other policy advisors (both Soviet and foreign) who were privy not only to data on the functioning of the Soviet economy but also to the internal policy debate during the 1980s. This volume assembles the Informants' analyses of key issues and the turning points, and weaves them into a compelling history of systemic collapse. Among the topics investigated are: economic policies in the 1980s; the standard of living: the reliability of Soviet statistics; Gosplan's projections for the economy to the year 2000; was the arms race starving the civilian economy? the role of ideology in supporting the functioning of an economic system; the party's participating in economic management; the influence of foreign advisors; the struggle over a transition program; the functioning and collapse of the supply system, the CMEA, and the foreign trade system.

Author : Mikhail Gorbachev
Publisher : John Wiley & Sons
Page : 400 pages
File Size : 55,6 Mb
Release : 2016-06-08
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9781509503919

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The New Russia by Mikhail Gorbachev Pdf

After years of rapprochement, the relationship between Russia and the West is more strained now than it has been in the past 25 years. Putin’s motives, his reasons for seeking confrontation with the West, remain for many a mystery. Not for Mikhail Gorbachev. In this new work, Russia’s elder statesman draws on his wealth of knowledge and experience to reveal the development of Putin’s regime and the intentions behind it. He argues that Putin has significantly diminished the achievements of perestroika and is part of an over-centralized system that presents a precarious future for Russia. Faced with this, Gorbachev advocates a radical reform of politics and a new fostering of pluralism and social democracy. Gorbachev’s insightful analysis moves beyond internal politics to address wider problems in the region, including the Ukraine conflict, as well as the global challenges of poverty and climate change. Above all else, he insists that solutions are to be found by returning to the atmosphere of dialogue and cooperation which was so instrumental in ending the Cold War. This book represents the summation of Gorbachev’s thinking on the course that Russia has taken since 1991 and stands as a testament to one of the greatest and most influential statesmen of the twentieth century.

Author : Lilii︠a︡ Shevt︠s︡ova
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 368 pages
File Size : 52,7 Mb
Release : 1999
Category : Biography & Autobiography
ISBN : UOM:39015042764889

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Yeltsin's Russia by Lilii︠a︡ Shevt︠s︡ova Pdf

Yeltsin's Russia: Myths and Reality is the most current and comprehensive account of the achievements - and failures - of Boris Yeltsin's Russia. Combining keen political analysis with the unique perspective of a native observer, Shevtsova's book also offers a valuable assessment of the forces that will shape the post-Yeltsin era.

Author : Bohdan Nahaylo,Victor Swoboda
Publisher : Simon and Schuster
Page : 464 pages
File Size : 45,5 Mb
Release : 1990
Category : Ethnology
ISBN : 9780029224014

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Soviet Disunion by Bohdan Nahaylo,Victor Swoboda Pdf

Ethnic upheaval throughout the USSR now threatens the very reforms introduced by Gorbachev and may well decide the fate of his government. This volume describes the histories of the suppressed and angry nationalities, their drive for the restoration of national rights, and the implications for the future. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Author : Stephen J. Macekura,Erez Manela
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 367 pages
File Size : 50,6 Mb
Release : 2018-09-06
Category : History
ISBN : 9781316515884

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The Development Century by Stephen J. Macekura,Erez Manela Pdf

Offers cutting-edge perspectives on how international development has shaped the global history of the modern world.

Author : Steve Crawshaw
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing
Page : 264 pages
File Size : 51,5 Mb
Release : 1993
Category : Soviet Union
ISBN : 0747515611

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Goodbye to the USSR by Steve Crawshaw Pdf

An account of Russia during the Gorbachev years which presents events from the viewpoint of both the politicians and the people. This book describes the revolutionary changes in the Baltic republics, anti-Kremlin feeling in the Caucasus, and the growing rebellion against Communism in Russia itself.

Author : Martin Mccauley
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 623 pages
File Size : 42,8 Mb
Release : 2014-01-14
Category : History
ISBN : 9781317867821

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The Rise and Fall of the Soviet Union by Martin Mccauley Pdf

'An expert in probing mafia-type relationships in present-day Russia, Martin McCauley here offers a vigorously written scrutiny of Soviet politics and society since the days of Lenin and Stalin.' John Keep, Professor Emeritus, University of Toronto. The birth of the Soviet Union surprised many; its demise amazed the whole world. How did imperial Russia give way to the Soviet Union in 1917, and why did the USSR collapse so quickly in 1991? Marxism promised paradise on earth, but the Communist Party never had true power, instead allowing Lenin and Stalin to become dictators who ruled in its name. The failure of the planned economy to live up to expectations led to a boom in the unplanned economy, in particular the black market. In turn, this led to the growth of organised crime and corruption within the government. The Rise and Fall of the Soviet Union examines the strengths, weaknesses, and contradictions of the first Marxist state, and reassesses the role of power, authority and legitimacy in Soviet politics. Including first-person accounts, anecdotes, illustrations and diagrams to illustrate key concepts, McCauley provides a seminal history of twentieth-century Russia.