Subject: Re: [lbo-talk] Socialism Betrayed: Behind the Collapse of the Soviet Union
"Julian Gollop": I have been looking for some explanations of the sudden collapse of the Soviet bloc. I have found an interesting and plausible theory suggesting a decline in oil production precipitated the rapid collapse: http://www.hubbertpeak.com/reynolds/SovietDecline.htm However, it doesn't really explain the Gorbachov period of attempted reform. Anyone got any ideas?
Cheers,
Julian Gollop
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By coincidence, I am translating the section in Roy Medvedev's book Socialism in Russia on this very subject, which I can pass on if wished.
A LOT is being written on this subject in Russian, as one would expect, some of it by direct particplants in the events such as Medvedev -- and almost none seems to be getting translated, again as one would expect. A. Shubin's Paradoxes of Perestroika is a case in point; I don't think Gorbachev's last book about being GenSec is being translated either. (This actually would be a subject worth discussing -- why the Russian voice on the subject is not being allowed to seep through, despite its obvious immense relavence.)
-- Yoshie <http://montages.blogspot.com/> <http://mrzine.org> <http://monthlyreview.org/>