TOPIC 2 such elemental functions of govern- ment as raising revenue, enforcing the law among its own agencies as well as in society at large, controlling the mili- Russia: report card tary, policing the borders, suppressing internal rebellion, regulating monopo- lies and banks, etc. This is a cruel irony on survival in light of Russia’s historical struggle with overweening state authority. Yet the debility of post-Communist public In the 10 years since the collapse of communism, institutions means that for Russians to opportunists have plundered the country, leaving the have a chance at the development of the economy in worse shape than ever. Can this scandal be rule of law, the establishment of a rea- halted? How can the U.S. help? sonably strong state is as important as the emergence of a vital and democrati- cally committed civil society. In fact, Russian public life in the past by Allen Lynch decade has had less to do with the striv- ing of state and society for democratic accountability and the consolidation of a capitalist economy than with a re- markably successful effort by strategi- cally situated members of the old Soviet elites—economic, political and admin- istrative—to seize Russia’s wealth and

REUTERS/ARCHIVE PHOTOS consolidate their position as the new rich, at the expense not only of the Rus- sian nation but also of the state itself. The nearly unimaginable plundering of economic assets by this post-Soviet up- per class has undermined Russia’s al- ready precarious chances for a viable post-Communist transition and called into question its ability to execute its in- ternational responsibilities. The outside world needs to view Rus- sia with a clear eye if it is to deal with a reality that is far indeed from the optimis- tic premise of democratic and capitalist “transition” that has governed U.S. policy toward Russia throughout the 1990s. A WOMAN HOLDS A FLAG bearing the face of Vladimir I. Lenin. Thousands of striking workers gathered in Red Square on November 7, 1998, to demand unpaid wages and to call for the resignation of . Historical legacies Karl Marx famously observed that, HAT SORT OF A COUNTRY is foundation in the agencies and proce- while men make history, they do not do Russia, now entering the dures of representative government; a so in circumstances of their own choos- W21st century and completing sociopsychological foundation in the ing. Political, economic, social, cultural its first decade of post-Communist rule? tolerance and civic spirit of the citi- and other legacies decisively restrict the What are the dynamics driving the zenry; and a socioeconomic foundation choices available to leaders and societ- Russian political and economic systems in economic well-being and a large and ies. How has Russia’s distinctive expe- and Russia’s engagement with the out- secure middle class. By these standards, rience, and especially that of the Com- side world, including American-Rus- it is most unlikely that Russia can in any munist era—which lasted for three sian relations? foreseeable future become a liberal quarters of the 20th century—shaped It is commonly accepted that modern market democracy. Too many precon- the country’s post-Communist circum- democracy has a political-institutional ditions are absent: the rule of law, a stances? stable and secure middle class, a broad Consider that in 1913, the last full ALLEN LYNCH is an associate professor of commitment to individualism. Russia’s year of peacetime before the Revolution government and foreign affairs at the Uni- versity of Virginia and is the director of the primary political challenge instead is of 1917, Russia was at approximately university’s Center for Russian and East the establishment of a minimally com- the same level as Italy in such terms as European Studies. petent state, one that is able to perform life expectancy, infant mortality, lit-

GREAT DECISIONS 2000 21 TOPIC 2 RUSSIA: A REPORT CARD DAVID LADA

eracy, per capita inco