ABSTRACT
There are certain points in time where decisive action, taken by a few individuals, may serve to change the course of history, be it for the better or for the worse. The months that followed in the wake of the failed August 1991 coup presented Russia’s political elites with such a point of decision. Stating that the grand attempt at “systemic change”, which was to follow, was an ambitious undertaking would certainly be no overstatement. But just how ambitious was it really? And why did it end in such a tragic failure?
