This work examines the political and organizational factors that have shaped Russian economic reforms since the demise of the Soviet Union. The author draws on a variety of sources – including interviews conducted in Ekaterinburg, Voronezh and Smolensk – to present a multilayered portrait of the successes, failures and umintended consequences of the reforms. The book covers: the consequence of dissolving the USSR and Russia’s role in the CIS; political transition; economic reform; assessment of the political and social implications of neo-liberal moneterism and of the voucher privatisation programme; and both regional and federal structures and processes.