Read the full essay here.
The author deliberates on the different paradigms of transformation in the Central and East European states and Russia, and attempts to offer an answer to the questions: What stopped Russia from breaking free of its past civilizational logic? What was the balance between inevitability and lost historical opportunity in Russia’s case? Is there hope for a future transformation in Russia? The author analyses the confluence of several elements that helped to set Russia’s course: the influence of history; the challenges of the transformation process itself; the importance of leadership; and the role of the West.