The Future of Freedom in Russia

This book collects papers by 15 contributors, 13 of them Russian, delivered at a conference held in Washington in February 1999. The editor is a distinguished U.S. diplomat and lawyer. The theme is a momentous one, scarcely less for foreigners than for Russians: can Russia have a future in freedom? The tone is carefully hopeful, but not blind, and the text stresses the need to cultivate a civil society, with respect for the law from citizens and state. Such a society is a tender, fragile flower in Russian history, one savagely uprooted during the 74 years of Soviet power. The essays examining this issue in its various aspects (law, religion, business, property, and so forth) are of uniformly high quality, especially the one by Irina Reshetnikova. It is interesting, however, that in Sergei Komaritsyn’s review of candidates for the 2000 presidential election and their likely commitment to democracy, the name of Vladimir Putin is not mentioned. Even so, this anthology is the most valuable and knowledgeable addition recently made to studies of contemporary Russia and its prospects for a democratic future. - Robert Johnston, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario. [Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.]