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Many misconceptions about the state of affairs in Russia have surfaced since the end of the Cold War; this article seeks to correct these errors. The first erroneous idea is that the Russian economy has collapsed. This is not true; Russians have simply fled low quality in domestic products & have embraced high quality foreign goods. Also, the idea that the market economy was too much too soon is erroneous; problems such as excessive state intervention, corruption, high tax rates, etc, actually point to the need for more reforms. In addition, privatization is not to blame for these deficits; instead, it has provided 70% of the nation's GDP. Russia collects taxes & in fact has instituted a stable flat income tax of 13%, which most people pay. Russia's infrastructure is actually improved: Russia does not need foreign investors. The health care crisis is not as extreme as some say. Russia was not lost by President Clinton. Democracy & the media are the answer to control Russia's elitist tendencies. Bibliog. R. Larsen

Russia's reactions toward the US plan for deploying a national missile defense system & strategy for renegotiating the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty are studied. An overview of the former USSR's ballistic missile defense research & technology & implementation of such a system around Moscow is presented. It is claimed that Russia's diminished status as a global superpower has severely decreased its capacity to maintain the ABM Treaty in its current state. A review of Russia-US arms control summits during the late 1990s illustrates both nations' concerns with other countries' creation of long-range ballistic missiles. It is stated that renegotiating the ABM treaty provides the best-case scenario for present-day Russia & that allowing the US to withdraw from the agreement would damage future possibilities for Russia-US cooperation. In addition, it is speculated that renegotiation could lead to both nations' collaboration in creating a joint missile defense system. It is concluded that Putin's overt acknowledgment of ballistic missile threats has probably compromised Russia's ability to preserve the original stipulations of the ABM Treaty. J. W. Parker