ABSTRACT
How can Russia become prosperous, well governed, and socially equitable—a country that is, to use the Western social-science parlance, “modern”? 1 The answers to this question—whether proposed by Russians or by analysts outside Russia—often fall into the two mutually exclusive camps already defined by similar debates in previous centuries. One side claims that Russia can become modern only if it adopts liberal values and democratic practices. The other insists that Russia must go its own way, relying on the national values, authoritarian traditions, and institutions that have both defined and been defined by Russia’s history and culture.
