'Yegor Gaidar has written an outstanding book of great importance. With extraordinary erudition, he warns Russia against following the course of Nazi Germany, focusing on the double trap of post-imperial hangover and the oil curse. Professor Gaidar also shows how profound and manifold the Soviet collapse of 1991 really was.'
- Anders Åslund (Praise for
Collapse of an Empire)
'..nostalgia for the 'days or empire'—fashionable at the highest levels in Russia today—is wrongheaded and dangerous.''Yegor Gaidar, a hero of Russian reform, has provided a courageous and clear-headed wakeup call for his own people and the world. He argues persuasively that today's Kremlin leaders are heading down the same economic path that their Communist predecessors to disaster. Combining personal experience, deep analysis and a rare grasp of facts—including from previously classified documents—Gaidar has produces a book of insight and importance. It is must-reading for anyone trying to comprehend what really happened to the Soviet Union, why its system was inherently unstable, and why nostalgia for the 'days or empire'—fashionable at the highest levels in Russia today—is wrongheaded and dangerous.'
- George Soros (Praise for
Collapse of an Empire)
'The curtailment of democratic elements and real federalism is taking its toll on the dynamic of international relations..''..Since 2003—04, there have been worrying signs in the development of Russia's political system, federative relations, and economy.
..
When the parliament becomes an instrument of formal approval of the actions and intentions of the executive branch, the quality of the decisions suffers. Even an effective bureaucracy, if it does not responds to systematic professional criticism, makes mistakes, sometimes very crude ones.
In the early 2000s, there was a fairly independent press .. when an ever-greater share of the press is under the direct or oblique but strict control of the authorities, one more instrument of public control is blocked..
A few years ago, Russia had influential entrepreneurial organizations, such as the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RUIE). Its voice was heard and taken into account in developing key economics and political decisions .. but in 2003, the RUIE began to evolve into an ornamental body.
..The 2004 decision to return responsibility for the appointment of governors to Moscow permits the local authorities and regional elites to pass the buck to the center and say that they can do nothing about local problems.
..
The curtailment of democratic elements and real federalism is taking its toll on the dynamic of international relations .. Moscow treats the residents of autonomous not as full fledged citizens but as conquered entities..'
- Yegor Gaidar,
Collapse of an Empire, page(s) 251, 252, 253)
'..All elements of society are concentrated in the same hands which resemble the 1930s. This is a semi-Soviet system.''We don't have an independent parliament any more. For the first time since the dissolution of the Soviet Union we again have a one-party parliament. There are no independent mass media of any significance any more. There is no public control over secret services and the law enforcement agencies, there is no independent legislature. The authorities considerably influence the elections. All elements of society are concentrated in the same hands which resemble the 1930s. This is a semi-Soviet system.'
- Grigory Yavlinsky (
Source, January 12, 2004)
Context '..The attitude of the ruling elite toward its own people resembled that of the foreign conquerors of the agrarian states..' - '..The telling description of Stalin .. “Genghis Khan with a telephone." ' - Yegor Gaidar'..repression against the opposition .. suicidal strategy. Russia's history..' - Yegor Gaidar(Spanish, English, Chinese) - The Values: 'You only have to read one book, "The History of Spain" by Father Juan de Mariana.' - Thomas Jefferson'Sergei Krivenko, a member of the presidential Human Rights Council, told Dozhd television that he viewed Bogatenkova's detention "as revenge for her recent human rights activities, for publishing information about soldiers' deaths." '
- The Moscow Times,
Activist from Soldiers' Mothers Committee Hospitalized After Police Detention Oct. 22 2014 (
Russian 'Soldiers' Mothers' Activist Detained, October 18, 2014)