US Russia Policy: Time to Put the Brakes on Democratic Reform

Abstract

Russia faces extreme challenges in its transformation to freedom, democracy, and free enterprise. This paper examines US policy toward Russia since that country undertook radical democratic reform. It then identifies the fundamental prerequisites for successful democratic reform as identified by political philosophers, and measures Russia's current situation against those factors. Next, it looks at historical examples of democratic reform and concludes that evolutionary reform, as effected in Poland and currently progressing in China, is preferable to revolutionary reform, as Russia is attempting. It concludes by proposing a new approach to US policy toward Russia, one of encouraging stability first, then the cultivation of a large middle class, and only then the implementation of full democratic reforms.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Mar 18, 2005
Accession Number
ADA434880

Entities

People

  • Frederick W. Mooney

Organizations

  • United States Army War College

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Counter WMD
  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Human Systems
  • Space

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force
  • Civil War
  • Cold War
  • Commerce
  • Education
  • Ethnic Groups
  • European Union
  • Governments
  • Intergovernmental Organizations
  • International Organizations
  • Market Economy
  • National Politics
  • National Security
  • Political Systems
  • United States
  • War Colleges
  • Weapons Of Mass Destruction

Fields of Study

  • Political science

Readers

  • Economics
  • International Relations and European Studies
  • Systems Analysis and Design