Wow! eBook
The Russian Quest for Peace and Democracy
Author(s): Metta Spencer (Author)
- Publisher: Lexington Books (UK)
- Publication Date: 16 Oct. 2010
- Language: English
- Print length: 346 pages
- ISBN-10: 0739144723
- ISBN-13: 9780739144725
Book Description
Spencer identifies four political orientations to describe Soviet society: Sheep, ordinary citizens who accepted the undemocratic regime they lived in without challenging it; Dinosaurs, hard-line Communist officials; Termites, including Mikhail Gorbachev and his advisers and government; and Barking Dogs, a few hundred dissidents who made a lot of noise protesting, hoping to awaken a grass-roots demand for democracy. The strange rivalry between the Termites and Barking Dogs would ultimately doom
perestroika.Spencers research dispels the widely-held perception that US President Ronald Reagan won the Cold War by standing firm until the Soviet Union blinked first. There are vitally important lessons to be learned from the Soviet period, about how to assist citizens of totalitarian and authoritarian regimes around the world.
The irony is that transnational civil society organizations, major sources of the progress in Soviet Russia, are still needed today in authoritarian Russia, under Vladimir Putin and Dmitry Medvedev, for totalitarianism remains a potential social trap. In
The Russian Quest for Peace and Democracy, Metta Spencer suggests new ways of building urgently-needed social capital in todays Russia, where democracy has yet to flourish.Editorial Reviews
Review
In this book, Metta Spencer tells the important but neglected story of the contacts between Western peace activists and Soviet intellectuals (both official and dissident) through the words of those who took part. In so doing, she dispels the myths prevalent in Western policy-making circles that the West ”won” the Cold War through its military strength―myths which still have a distorting affect on policy. Anyone who wants to know how the Cold War ended will find this book immensely useful. — Mary Kaldor, co-director of the Center for Global Governance at the London School of Economics and Political Science
Spencer has an engaging style of writing, very like a personal conversation. The book is deeply interesting for its theoretical content and fascinating for the cameos of extraordinary people who appear in the pages.Spencer has an engaging style of writing, very like a personal conversation. The book is deeply interesting for its theoretical content and fascinating for the cameos of extraordinary people who appear in the pages.
[Spencer”s] chronicle of the spirit and ingenuity of Russians and their ability to overcome the most unbreachable barriers is anything but discouraging. I look forward to the next chapter.
Metta has an engaging style of writing, very like a personal conversation. The book is deeply interesting for its theoretical content, and fascinating for the cameos of extraordinary people who appear in the pages.
Spencer’s valuable account of this period in Eastern European socio-political history gives voice to those whose multifarious works ended the Cold War. She quotes at length from her extensive interviews – covering some 28 years of work in the field – shedding light not only on the accomplishments of individuals, but also on their characters.
The Russian Quest for Peace and Democracy is a statement of faith in the human desire for peace and freedom, a longing that survives even in the most oppressive regimes, publicly in a courageous few, and more covertly in others.
A very interesting and informative text, especially for readers who are interested in political sociology, social movements, and Russian history.
