Collapse of an empire : lessons for modern Russia / Yegor Gaidar ; translated by Antonina W. Bouis.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 257-314) and index.

I. The Grandeur and the Fall of Empires -- Modern Economic Growth and the Era of Empires -- Crisis and the Dismantling of Overseas Empires -- Problems of Dissolving Territorially Integrated Empires -- The Yugoslav Tragedy -- II. Authoritarian Regimes: The Causes of Instability -- Challenges in the Early Stages of Modern Economic Growth and Authoritarianism -- The Instability of Authoritarian Regimes -- Mechanisms of the Collapse of Authoritarianism -- III. The Oil Curse -- The Spanish Prologue -- Resource Wealth and Economic Development -- Specifics of the Oil Market -- Regulating the Oil Market in the Twentieth Century -- Challenges Related to Price Fluctuations of Commodities: Mexico and Venezuela -- In Search of a Way Out: A Response to the Dangers of Unstable Commodity Pricing -- IV. Cracks in the Foundation: The Soviet Union in the Early 1980s -- Growing Problems and Bad Decisions -- Food Supply Problems -- Food Shortages - A Strategic Challenge -- The USSR as the Largest Importer of Food -- Oil in Western Siberia: The Illusion of Salvation -- A Drop in Oil Prices: The Final Blow -- The Collapse of the USSR: The Unexpected Becomes the Rule -- V. The Political Economy of External Shocks -- Deteriorating Conditions for Foreign Trade: Political Alternatives -- The USSR and the Drop in Oil Prices: The Essence of the Choice -- A Series of Mistakes -- Mounting Problems in the Soviet Economy -- The Hard Currency Crisis -- Economic and Political Liberalization against the Background of the Hard Currency and Financial Problems -- VI. Development of the Crisis in the Socialist System -- Political Credits -- The Price of Compromise -- The Crisis of the Empire and the Nationality Question -- Loss of Control over the Economic and Political Situation -- The Currency Crisis -- From Crisis to Catastrophe -- "Extraordinary Efforts" instead of Reforms -- On the Brink of Default -- VII. On the Path to State Bankruptcy -- The Grain Problem -- Prices Skyrocket -- Money and the Fate of the Empire -- VII. The Fall -- The Political Economy of the Failed Coup -- Political Death Throes -- Political Disintegration: Economic Consequences -- A Civilized Divorce.

"In today's Russia, nostalgia for the Soviet era is growing. Many Russians reflect wistfully on the passing of a time when the Soviet Union was a superpower, commanding international respect, and they blame its demise on external enemies and foolish changes in policy. In an address to the Russian Federal Assembly, President Vladimir Putin called the breakup of the Soviet Union the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the twentieth century. In Collapse of an Empire, however, economic reformer and former prime minister Yegor Gaidar clearly illustrates why such notions are misguided, ill informed, and dangerous. As he explains in the introduction: "My goal is to show the reader that the Soviet political and economic system was unstable by its very nature. It was just a question of when and how it would collapse."" "Although the Soviet Union never referred to itself as an empire, it fit Gaidar's definition: "a powerful multiethnic state formation in which the power (or at least the right to vote) is concentrated in the metropolis and its democratic institutions (if they exist), though the power and those institutions do not extend to the entire territory under its control." The U.S.S.R. sat on a shaky foundation of far-flung lands, conquered peoples, centralized authoritarian government, and a command economy overly reliant on natural resources. Gaidar explains why this once-powerful state was doomed to fail eventually, and why Russians should be looking forward rather than backward in building their nation. He worries that Russia is repeating some of its tragic mistakes, including uneven economic development that leaves the nation vulnerable to fluctuations in the energy market."--BOOK JACKET.