The Legacy of the Soviet Union offers a distillation by a group of eminent scholars of their experience of the post-Soviet years. Analysis of the post-Soviet landscape is accompanied by meditations on the impact of the post-Soviet transition on both policy-makers and academics. The book therefore examines both assumptions of 'transition' and reconsiders the experience of Soviet communism in the light of its demise.

An examination of political, social and cultural developments in the Soviet Union. The book identifies the social tensions and political inconsistencies that spurred radical change in the government of Russia, from the turn of the century to the revolution of 1917. Kenez envisions that revolution as a crisis of authority that posed the question, 'Who shall govern Russia?' This question was resolved with the creation of the Soviet Union. Kenez traces the development of the Soviet Union from the Revolution, through the 1920s, the years of the New Economic Policies and into the Stalinist order. He shows how post-Stalin Soviet leaders struggled to find ways to rule the country without using Stalin's methods but also without openly repudiating the past, and to negotiate a peaceful but antipathetic coexistence with the capitalist West. In this second edition, he also examines the post-Soviet period, tracing Russia's development up to the time of publication.

This concise yet comprehensive textbook examines political, social, and cultural developments in the Soviet Union and the post-Soviet period. It begins by identifying the social tensions and political inconsistencies that spurred radical change in Russia's government, from the turn of the century to the revolution of 1917. Peter Kenez presents this revolution as a crisis of authority that the creation of the Soviet Union resolved. The text traces the progress of the Soviet Union through the 1920s, the years of the New Economic Policies, and into the Stalinist order. It illustrates how post-Stalin Soviet leaders struggled to find ways to rule the country without using Stalin's methods - but also without openly repudiating the past - and to negotiate a peaceful but antipathetic coexistence with the capitalist West. This updated third edition includes substantial new material, discussing the challenges Russia currently faces in the era of Putin.

Finally, the book assesses the contribution of international assistance programmes to the denuclearization process under way in the former Soviet Union.

In this book an international group of scholars examines China's acceptance and ultimate rejection of Soviet models and practices in economic, cultural, social, and other realms.

The dramatic revelations of environmental catastrophe in the Soviet Union made during the late 1980s and early 1990s were a driving force behind reform in, and later the demise of the communist party-state. But while the Union no longer exists, the independent republics confront the same dilemmas that plagued the Soviet state: Will the goal of econ