Introduction

Russia's political leaders in 1992 inherited not only the rubble of the collapsed economic system, the institutional fragments of totalitarian rule, and a society already mired in organized crime and corruption, but also a population conditioned to believe that prosperity and a better life depended on government. To become free and prosperous, Russia required simultaneous revolutions at the top of government and society, in the way the government ruled, in the structure of the economy, and, indeed, in the way the people thought. One can argue whether economic or political reform should have come first, and also whether either is possible in a society full of special interests determined to resist change. The new Russia is a work in progress, and its success will depend on its ability to diminish the role of violence and expand the role of social service, whether private or public.