Just putting this out for debate and discussion... Capital Flight, Mafia Enterprises, Impoverished Citizenry/Yeltsin Legacy 10 Years Later Libraries Life News (Education) Keywords COLGATE UNIVERSITY EXPERT ADDRESSES YELTSIN LEGACY 10 YEARS LATER Contact Information
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“Ten years ago this month, when Russia's first president, Boris Yeltsin, ordered the military seizure of the Russian Parliament, he effectively established the ‘presidential monarchy.’ To this day, Russian politics remain characterized by his “reign,” says a Russian professor.
Newswise—“Ten years ago this month (Sept.21), when Russia's first president, Boris Yeltsin, ordered the military seizure of the Russian Parliament, he effectively established the ‘presidential monarchy.’ To this day, Russian politics remain characterized by his “reign,” says Colgate University Russian professor Nancy Ries. “Under his direction the seizure of power from elected parliamentary representatives ushered in an era of uncontrolled capital flight, the rise of mafia enterprises, oligarchic control of the economy and massive impoverishment of the people. The events of September 1993 were really a revolution from above, not one precipitated by the people. The result was political, legal, and economic disenfranchisement for the majority of Russia’s population.
“As a result of the Soviet education system, the citizenry is highly educated. This has resulted in the emergence of a small "middle class" in key urban areas. Nevertheless recovery from the effects of the "shock therapy" and privatization ushered in by the Yeltsin regime will be extended and challenging,” predicts Ries.
Colgate University Russian studies professor Nancy Ries also directs Colgate’s Peace Studies Program. She is the author of “Russian Talk: Culture and Conversation during Perestroika,”.the co-editor of a book series titled "Culture and Society after Socialism" and editor of the journal "Anthropology of East Europe Review." She has just published an essay on ideas about corruption and the mafia, called "'Honest Bandits' and 'Warped People': Russian Narratives about Money, Corruption, and Moral Decay" in “Ethnography in Unstable Places.” Ries is now writing a book on wealth and poverty in the new Russia. Over the past 18 years, she has spent 42 months in cities in Russia, including Moscow, Tver, Yaroslavl, and Vladimir.
Founded in 1819, Colgate University is a highly selective, residential, liberal arts college enrolling nearly 2,750 undergraduates. Situated on a rolling 515-acre campus in central New York State, Colgate University attracts motivated students with diverse backgrounds, interests and talents.