Hi dybdahl.
((We failed to assist Russia after the fall of the Soviet Union for two reasons))
That's not how I understood the situation. First, my primary sources ... 3 books:
1 - Globalization and its Discontents, Joseph E. Stiglitz, 2002
2 - Failed Crusade: America and the Tragedy of Post-Communist Russia, Stephen F. Cohen, 2000/2001
3 - Sale of the Century, Chrystia Freeland, 2000
It's been a while since I read this material, but if I recall correctly, the story went something like this.
1 - Massive privatizations to politcos, mafiosos, and future oligarchs that privatized for a song the collective wealth of the Russian people. Very much along the lines of the "privatization schemes" advocated by the IMF and World Bank in the days of the Washington consensus. You know, the policy that worked so well for the people of Argentina in the early years of the 21st century. At the same time, a "shock doctrine" (see Naomi Klein) was applied to the peoples of Russia, forcing them to adapt to the new social and economic realities.
2 - The implementation of free market orthodoxy that set the stage for vampire capitalism at its finest. It took Putin to come to power, and reign in the power of the criminal oligarchs.
3 - In the spirit of "deregulating" all norms of social order, and promoting orthodox free-market capitalism - what Globe & Mail journalist Chrystia Freeland calls "the Sale of the Century" - there appeared to be a total disregard for building the institutions underpinnings of civil society. This was admitted in hindsight, but if there was a sincere intention to reform Russia into a "civil" society first, and a "capitalist" society second, this would have been an obvious insight from the get go.
Fundamentally, as I see it, the problem was that the US put Wall Street in charge of rebuilding Russian society and economy. Can you imagine? Would "you" want Wall Street to be put in charge of anything that you valued or held dear? And Wall St., in the end, remade Russia in its own image ... a brief, if tragic time, which Putin has thankfully - for the sake of the Russian people - put to an end.
Admittedly, although I visited Russia in 1986 prior to the fall of the Soviet Union, I did not visit Russia during its time of turmoil. Although I have several Russian friends. So I am open to being proven wrong in my assessment above.
As far as individual human beings, I have no doubt that individual Americans, Europeans, and Russian emigrants performed many acts of goodwill and kindness during this difficult period for Russian society. But as far as the American "state", well, perhaps my expectations are too high, but when I witnessed the fall of the Berlin wall, I had hoped for better.
Regards,
Glenn |
