Freedom's Ordeal: The Struggle for Human Rights and Democracy in Post-Soviet States (review)

When the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, the political world changed in an unimaginable and dramatic fashion. While the end of the Cold War was supposed to mean the end of a history, the demise of the Soviet Union was actually a beginning that now requires our intense attention and study. As we approach the new millennium, we are witnessing forces and events within the former Soviet states, especially Russia, that are unsettling and leave us rightfully concerned about their future and, necessarily, our own. In essence, the state of world peace may hinge on whether anarchy or a “scheme of ordered liberty” will prevail in the fifteen states that once constituted the USSR. Peter Juviler’s Freedom’s Ordeal: The Struggle for Human Rights and Democracy in Post-Soviet States is a well researched effort to guide the reader through the labyrinth of history and to analyze the critical issues of politics and human rights facing the former Marxist empire.

The scope of the topic is nearly overwhelming. The task of dealing with the complexities of change from the newly independent states of Europe, like Ukraine, Moldova, and Belarus, to the issues that surround the new Central Asian Republics, like Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Azerbaijan, is daunting. Further, to chronicle, in the same work, the trends and development of the Baltic States of Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia, as well as Russia, with its own enormous complexities, is an enormous and ambitious goal. Peter Juviler succeeds on both counts. Freedom’s Ordeal is thorough and well-researched. The author provides an overview of the breadth of the issues and an overall impression of the trends in an organized and well-constructed format, while providing sufficient details to allow the reader to consider specific political problems.

Using the prism of human rights in assessing the development of these turbulent and transitional states, the author joins together the events and politics of diverse regions and peoples in a rational manner that gives the theme unity and purpose. As the author states in the Introduction, “democracy, human rights, and the rule of law are inseparable companions to the building and consolidation of stable, inclusive, democratic communities.” ¹ “Human rights,” he notes, is “both a measure and a pre-requisite” ² of inclusiveness. By admitting the importance of freedom, human rights, and democracy in the study of political development, Juviler rightfully concludes that the book’s “central cluster” provides insights and allows for an analysis of the changing and unstable political topography and climate of the region. Juviler points out that such an approach is consistent with the conclusion of the 1993 UN World Conference on Human Rights. If, as the UN conference concluded, “democracy, development and respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms are interdependent and mutually reinforcing,” ³ then it is timely, creative, and productive to address the changing political fabric of the former Soviet Union via the development of human rights and democracy.

Juviler not only considers the details of the present crisis facing the former Soviet States but also reaches back in history to the Tzarist experience and the Bolshevik Revolution. The early roots of democratic developments preceding the demise of the Russian Empire are fascinating and provide ample evidence that the struggle for democracy and the pressure for an autocratic order in Russia are not new phenomena. Furthermore, the insights that Juviler’s historical account provides are important for an understanding of the present response to the transition from Soviet tyranny to democracy. For example, in his chapter Changing Russia, Juviler challenges the frequently expressed popular viewpoint that democracy and civil society are alien to Russian culture. Describing the early efforts of democratization and socialization in civil society during the Tzarist eras, the author convincingly notes that the interest in and concern for individual rights as essential for the common good was espoused early in Russia’s political development—even before...