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N°228 |
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| November 2003 |
| A Pause in Russia's Reform
Process? |
| Georges Sokoloff |
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Twenty years after the beginnings
of the metamorphosis of Russia, its society remains deeply divided. Personal freedoms
have been largely acquired but the conversion to a market economy has led to the
pauperisation of a large part of the population as well as a widespread feeling
that public order has collapsed. Vladimir Putin's regime is seeking a synthesis
which reconciles liberalism with an attachment, still lively, to certain Soviet
values. On the domestic political scene, this synthesis involves re-establishing
public order while guaranteeing freedoms. But in the face of problems with setting
up an efficientpublic administration, Vladimir Putin has concentrated above all
on political order, attacking the counter-veiling powers of regional bosses, the
Parliament and Russia's big-time capitalists. Arbitrary tactics have been employed
against the "oligarchs", which are damaging to the freedom of expression
and the investment climate. This constitutes a step backwards for the spirit of
freedom which has characterised Russia's reforms since Gorbachev. Does this herald
a pause in the reform process?
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