Russia after Communism: The Road to Dictatorship and Terror

Satter investigates how Russia became a dictatorship and aggressor after the fall of the Soviet Union, as it sought to carry out the transition from communism to capitalism without the rule of law. The massive giveaway of state property to a small group of corrupt insiders under Yeltsin impoverished the country and created a devastating social catastrophe. Once elected, Putin began to strengthen the institutions of the state that had barely functioned under Yeltsin through crime and corruption. The government apparatus became the new locus of banditism. The growing discontent with Putin and his obvious intention of ruling forever, however, led to mass protest demonstrations that undermined the regime's self-confidence in 2011. When a mass popular revolt broke out in Ukraine and overthrew the corrupt President, Viktor Yanukovych, the Russian people were presented with an example of how it might be possible to overthrow the Putin regime in Russia. Accordingly, the regime acted to protect itself and distract the population by seizing Crimea and launching an invasion of Eastern Ukraine.