ABSTRACT
Transactorship involves individuals, institutions and groups whose official status is difficult to establish. Maintaining that Russian economic reform was so important, and the "window of opportunity" to effect change so narrow, US policymakers granted the Harvard Institute special treatment. In Russia, the Harvard representatives worked exclusively with Anatoly Chubais and the circle around him, which came to be known as the Chubais Clan. The Chubais transactors advertised themselves, and were advertised by their promoters, as the "Young Reformers." Harvard acted as the Chubais Clan's entree to the eyes and ears of US policymakers and to American funds. The Western media promoted their mystique and overlooked other reform-minded groups in Russia. Operating by decree is clearly anti-democratic and contrary to the aid community's stated goal of building democracy in Russia. A similar anti-democratic ethos pervaded the network of Harvard-Chubais transactor-run organizations. Secrecy shrouded the privatization process, with numerous, unfortunate consequences for the Russian people.
