September 28, 2022
Russia’s Great Transformational Failure
The collapse of the Soviet system led to a period of hope in Russia. Throughout the 2000s, it was popular to describe Russia as a “normal country.” The changes it went through during its transition from Soviet communism to a Westernized, market-based economy and parliamentary system were agreed to be irreversible, setting the stage for the country to eventually join the club of liberal democracies.
While post-communist countries saw varying degrees of success, it is the failure to modernize along all three dimensions that distinguishes Russia.
Thirty years later, however, it seems clear that Russia’s much-heralded modernization effort was a failure. In the early 1990s, the political scientist Claus Offe explained the nature of the unique challenges faced by countries across the post-communist region, which he called the triple transformation: the political transition from autocracy to democracy; the economic transition from planned to market economy; and a national transition from empire to nation-building. While post-communist countries saw varying degrees of success, it is the failure to modernize along all three dimensions that distinguishes Russia. By the late 2000s, it became apparent that Russia’s political system was not particularly “normal.”
Read the full article from Tablet Magazine.
More from CNAS
-
Ukraine's Winter Forecast: Economy and Politics
Podcast
A fast-approaching winter looms over Ukraine. Russia has intensified a concerted campaign against the infrastructure that keeps Ukraine’s economy running, striking railways, w...
By Andrea Kendall-Taylor & Jim Townsend
-
Why Has America Suddenly Pulled Its Bombers Out of Britain?
Video
The sudden withdrawal of American heavy bombers from RAF Fairford back to the United States follows a major incident near the Gloucestershire airbase. Five men were arrested n...
By Jim Townsend
-
The Pentagon’s Plan for a Smaller Group of NATO Allies
Video
Pentagon policy chief Elbridge Colby has held talks with Germany, Poland, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and Finland, describing the participants as allies that are increasin...
By Jim Townsend
-
Oct 02, ’26 Washington Roundtable
Podcast
Jim Townsend, an adjunct senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security, joins the Defense & Aerospace Report Washington Roundtable to discuss the Trump administr...
By Jim Townsend
