Synopses & Reviews
Laird accomplishes two major goals: he provides an analytical, blow-by-blow description of the collapse of the Soviet Union under Mikhail GorbacheV&Apos;s leadership, and he explores the legacy left by the experiment in communism by the Soviet Union. Laird concludes that the burden of that legacy is so great that for many years--probably generations--authoritarian systems, perhaps disguised as democracies, will prevail in the newly independent republics, and the economies of the republics will continue to deteriorate before they get better.
Synopsis
Provides an analytical, blow-by-blow description of the collapse of the Soviet Union under Mikhail Gorbachev's leadership and it explores the legacy left by the Soviet Union's experiment in communism.
About the Author
ROY D. LAIRD is Professor Emeritus of Political Science, Russian and East European Studies, at the University of Kansas.
Table of Contents
Preface
From "Crisis" to "Catastrophe"
The Past as Prologue: The House That Stalin Built
Problems of Communism
Gorbachev and a New Era: 1985-1991
Gorbachev's Failed Rural "Revolution From Above"
Homo-Sovieticus: The Crisis of the Mind
Prognostications
Revelations of Glasnost: The Soviet and Post-Soviet Mind
Social Well-Being
The Soviet Mind-Set: Public Opinions
Suggested Readings
Index