Mark Smith’s impressive history surveys life in the Soviet Union, and its advances and failures from Khrushchev to Gorbachev ...

Long before Mikhail Gorbachev, Soviet planners and economists engaged in wide-ranging debates about economic reform. But they never seriously considered the option of a genuinely participatory, ...

Mikhail Gorbachev opened the door, and Boris Yeltsin walked out of it. Several other prominent Soviet politicians, including the mayors of Moscow and Leningrad, quickly joined Yeltsin in giving up ...

Ruling a country is already complex. One must consolidate legitimacy and maintain firm trust between governance and the people. One must listen closely to the people, not simply make do with official ...