John Hodgson

Movers & Shakers in Russian History 1917-2007 John Hodgson

This book is an analysis of how Russia has changed under the leadership of seven men, one of whom meets the criteria set by Thomas Carlyle for a great man in history. Gorbachev, Khrushchev, and Putin are best seen as reformers. Lenin, Trotsky, Stalin, and Yeltsin, on the other hand, could have been governors in the fictitious town of Stupidity (Glupov). Created by the nineteenth century Russian satirist Saltykov-Shchedrin, the town was destroyed and then rebuilt in an endless cycle under twenty-two governors. It may be true that Russia cannot be understood with the mind, but old thinking and an inflexible mentality are no longer stumbling blocks in the movement toward security and prosperity. Russians have what they want-stability and order in a sovereign democracy. As President Putin nears the end of his second term, he leaves no doubt that the future of Russia, with its unique political culture, will be determined not by foreign models and international organizations but by the utilization of human and natural resources so abundant in a country that stretches across eleven time zones.