Bandits, Gangsters and the Mafia : Russia, the Baltic States and the Cis Since 1992 Book

Every businessman is a roving bandit. He is always on the lookout for something to steal. Seize everything which is not nailed down and why not try to take that as well? With apologies to Marx, he engages in primitive theft accumulation. Interviewee! Wide ranging coverage of government, the economy, the military, the security services, intelligence, society and foreign policy. Explains the reasons Russia took the course it did and examines Yeltsin's legacy and puts Putin's impact under the microscope. Covers all 15 former Soviet republics, is accessible and illustrated with cartoons and photos. During the 1990s, with the shift from Communism to capitalism, the "roving bandits", big business or the oligarchs, stole Russia. They gained influence over President Yeltsin and his government and gradually shaped policy in their own interests. In the first comprehensive attempt to explain why Russia took the course it did, Martin McCauley names names. He examines the period through the prism of government, including Yeltsin's shadow government, the military, police, security and intelligence services. Relations between Moscow and the regions, industry, agriculture, social policy and foreign policy are also explored. Martin McCauley has been a regular contributor to ABC, NBC and CBS news for over 20 years on anything to do with Soviet Union, Russia and CIS, and the Balkans. Most recently he has been interviewed about the Balkans and Milosevic and the Bush/Putin meeting on the NBC and ABC networks. He is senior lecturer with the University of London, was the Chairman of the Ford Foundation Research and Development committee (1984-97), Chairman of the National Association of Soviet and East European Studies, (1986-89), Deputy Chairman - British National Association of Slavonic and East European Studies (1989-90) and was a member of the ESRC East-West Initiative and Policy and Research Committee, 1990-92). He has published more than 20 books, one of the most recent of which is Gorbachev, in the Longman Profiles in Power series.Read More