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A penetrating look into the extreme plutocracy Vladimir Putin has created and its implications for Russia's future This insightful study explores how the economic system Vladimir Putin has developed in Russia works to consolidate control over the country. By appointing his close associates as heads of state enterprises and by giving control of the FSB and the judiciary to his friends from the KGB, he has enriched his business friends from Saint Petersburg with preferential government deals. Thus, Putin has created a super wealthy and loyal plutocracy that owes its existence to authoritarianism. Much of this wealth has been hidden in offshore havens in the United States and the United Kingdom, where companies with anonymous owners and black money transfers are allowed to thrive. Though beneficial to a select few, this system has left Russia's economy in untenable stagnation, which Putin has tried to mask through military might

Ukraine is the midst of an existential crisis - its worst crisis since it became independent in December 1991. The country is faced with the threat from the Russian military, its severe financial crisis, and corruption. The purpose of this book is to suggest a strategy to Ukraine's policy makers on how they might be able to solve the current key problems. - Provided by publisher

Anders Aslund is known to make bold predictions that initially arouse controversy but soon become common wisdom. In Gorbachev's Struggle for Economic Reform (1989), he foresaw the collapse of the Soviet political and economic system. After Russia's financial crisis of 1998, observers declared the market economic experiment a failure, Aslund foresaw market economic success (Building Capitalism, 2002). In How Capitalism Was Built, 2nd Edition, he asks - and answers for the twenty-one countries he investigates: • Why did communism collapse? • Why did Russia not choose gradual reforms like China did? • Wherein lies the relative success of postcommunist transformation? • How did the oligarchs arise and decline vis-à-vis authoritarian leaders? Anyone who wants to understand the often confusing postcommunist dramas and obtain an early insight into the future will find this intellectually stimulating book useful. This edition includes updates to each chapter and new chapters on the impact of the global financial crisis and the European Union

Cover -- Contents -- Preface -- Acknowledgments -- Abbreviations -- Russian Federation map -- Introduction -- Definitions of Democracy and Market Economy -- Theses of This Book -- The Structure of This Book -- Chapter 1 Perestroika-The Great Awakening: 1985-87 -- Why Perestroika Started -- Mikhail Gorbachev and the Outstanding Provincials -- Early Perestroika: Cautious Economic Reforms to Boost Growth -- Glasnost: Shattering All Illusions -- New Thinking on Foreign Policy -- Why Gorbachev's Attempt at Chinese Reforms Failed -- Special photo section -- An Untenable Mix of Changes -- Chapter 2 The Collapse: 1988-91 -- Elite Division: Yeltsin, Ligachev, and Gorbachev Part Company -- Democratization -- National Revival and Disputes -- The Demise of the Plan and the Rise of Rent Seeking -- A Parade of Reform Programs -- Collapse of the Outer Empire -- Economic Collapse -- Political Collapse: Yeltsin at His Peak -- An Overdetermined Collapse -- Chapter 3 Revolution: 1991-93 -- Yeltsin's Assumption of Power -- Dissolution of the Soviet Union -- Attempt at Radical Market Reform -- Parlimentary Revolt Against the President -- Ambitious Mass Privatization -- Abortive Financial Stabilization -- Failure of the West to Act -- Dissolution of the Parliament and Shootout at the White House -- Great Achievements but Mixed Results -- Chapter 4 The Rise and Fall of State Enterprise Managers: 1994-95 -- The New Constitution -- The December 1993 Elections and the End of the Reform Government -- The State Enterprise Managers -- The Making of Gazprom -- Precarious Financial Stabilization -- The Rise of Organized Crime -- The First Chechnya War -- Halt of Reform Exacerbated Social Costs -- Chapter 5 The Oligarchy: 1996-98 -- Who Were the Oligarchs? -- The Loans-for-Shares Privatization -- The 1996 Presidential Elections: Oligarchs and Reformers United.

When East European communism collapsed in the revolutions of 1989, the newly liberated countries discarded socialism altogether. For the first time, most of Eastern Europe experienced free elections and a multitude of parties, mostly with liberal, conservative or nationalist connotations, made their entry into political life. A bewildered world is now trying to imagine the future course of events. Has capitalism won or is something different emerging? Has market socialism vanished for good? How can the transitionary period be managed and what effect will it have on the standard of living in Eastern Europe? In this book, ten distinguished experts explore this transition to a market economy in Eastern Europe. Market Socialism or the Restoration of Capitalism? presents a collection of thought-provoking articles and will therefore be essential reading for all students and specialists of Soviet and East European studies, economics and politics