Soviet Fates and Lost Alternatives: From Stalinism to the New Cold War 1st Edition

by Stephen Cohen (Author, Afterword)

48 ratings

ISBN-13: 978-0231148979

ISBN-10: 0231148976

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In this wide-ranging and acclaimed book, Stephen F. Cohen challenges conventional wisdom about the course of Soviet and post-Soviet history. Reexamining leaders from Nikolai Bukharin, Stalin's preeminent opponent, and Nikita Khrushchev to Mikhail Gorbachev and his rival Yegor Ligachev, Cohen shows that their defeated policies were viable alternatives and that their tragic personal fates shaped the Soviet Union and Russia today. Cohen's ramifying arguments include that Stalinism was not the predetermined outcome of the Communist Revolution; that the Soviet Union was reformable and its breakup avoidable; and that the opportunity for a real post-Cold War relationship with Russia was squandered in Washington, not in Moscow. This is revisionist history at its best, compelling readers to rethink fateful events of the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries and the possibilities ahead.

In his new epilogue, Cohen expands his analysis of U.S. policy toward post-Soviet Russia, tracing its development in the Clinton and Obama administrations and pointing to its initiation of a "new Cold War" that, he implies, has led to a fateful confrontation over Ukraine.

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Editorial Reviews

Review

Cohen offers us a lesson, and a solution that is at once simple and of priceless value. -- David A. Andelman ― World Policy Blog

[George] Kennan's understanding of the Russian state... has proved to have enormous currency over time. Cohen's views should be given similar credence. -- William W. Finan Jr. ― Current History

Provocative and insightful. -- Amy Knight ― New York Review of Books

Well written and vigorously argued. -- Archie Brown ― Russian Review

Cohen... brings his study of Soviet and Russian political developments to the doorstep of the White House, to powerful effect. ― The Nation

An extraordinarily rich book... an absolutely vital beginning point for anyone interested in a serious study of political and foreign policy developments involving Russia. ― Slavic Review

Soviet Fates and Lost Alternatives finds its stride in Cohen's ability to challenge conventional wisdom on the causes and consequences of major turning points in Soviet and post-Soviet history. -- Rehanna Jones-Boutaleb ― Foreign Policy in Focus

this is one of the first books I would put into the hands of someone who wanted to get a good sense of what the Soviet Union was all about. -- Lars T. Lih ― Montreal Review

Cohen's book is a superbly informed, astute and thought-provoking analysis of late Soviet politics and history. -- Denis Kozlov ― Slavonic and East European Review

Among the many strengths of Soviet Fates is not just Stephen Cohen's longtimedepth of expertise but his unrivalled storytelling ability and, perhaps above all, hisrazor-sharp insider observations based on personal exchanges, interviews, and experienceswith key actors... -- Nanci Adler ― Journal of Modern History

About the Author

Stephen F. Cohen is professor of Russian studies at New York University and professor of politics emeritus at Princeton University. His other books include Bukharin and the Bolshevik Revolution: A Political Biography; Rethinking the Soviet Experience; and Failed Crusade: America and the Tragedy of Post-Communist Russia.

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Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Columbia University Press; 1st edition (July 5, 2011)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 342 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0231148976
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0231148979
Reading age ‏ : ‎ 22 years and up
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.1 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 8.9 x 6 x 0.9 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #919,647 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #388 in Russian & Former Soviet Union Politics
- #713 in Non-US Legal Systems (Books)
- #735 in Comparative Politics

Customer Reviews:
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Eigil Møller

Time for a new anniversary edition of this ALL IMPORTANT work.

Reviewed in the United States on February 24, 2017

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Read this important book as if your life depends on it. Cause it does!

Cohen uses his enormous knowledge and analytical skills in this work. Unless the US changes its course towards Russia in a fundamentally new direction, we'll "all go together, when we go" in a nuclear armageddon. The policies of Clinton/Bush II/Obama has brought us there. Learn about it in this great work. Learn about the great changes and missed opportunities in the hundred years of history since the revolution - both in the Soviet/Russia trajectory and in the US/Russia relations.

It's been a 100 years since the revolution. Let's have an anniversary edition, with a new essay about the development since 2011 - and the prospects right now. Stephen F. Cohen is a master. Listen to his voice while there still is time for a change.

7 people found this helpful

Helpful

Michael E. Murray MD

The Peril of Underestimating Russia

Reviewed in the United States on February 22, 2015

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Stephen Cohen understands Russia to its very core. He has been writing thoughtful commentaries for several decades. He cautions against the superficial and dismissive contempt that so many current commentors on Russia dispense today. Losing the near-abroad was one thing. Losing Ukraine and other areas that have been a part of Russia for hundreds of years is a catastrophe for the Russian people that westerners disregard at their own peril. They still have thousands of nuclear warheads and we are pushing them to the wall.

6 people found this helpful

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Old School but Kicking

Best ever writer on Russian and Soviet as well as post Soviet Russia.

Reviewed in the United States on April 13, 2018

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No living US Historian has a better handle on Russian and Soviet History and culture. A must read author who alas is out of vogue because he who knows so much isn't in favor of our making Russia the bogeyman.

4 people found this helpful

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Ferro

Refreshing and insightful

Reviewed in the United States on May 27, 2015

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Cohen appears to understand the historical and present reality far better than the political players he writes about. He traces the political dynamic and social forces from the anti-Stalinist reformers of the 1920's through to the current Obama-Putin impasse. He brings Russia, its people and history to life with his slightly detached sarcasm and store of anecdotes. His is a lone voice in the west of today- one that authoritatively presents the other side, the reality behind the current wave of slanted media portrayals and news stories.

4 people found this helpful

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Douglas Doepke

Beyond the Stereotypes

Reviewed in the United States on April 12, 2012

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No need to repeat textual details outlined by fellow reviewers. I'm a general reader with no particular expertise concerning the Soviet Union or its successors. Nonetheless, I've long valued Cohen's observations, particularly as they appeared in the Nation magazine. His expertise there as elsewhere, I believe, is well established. More importantly, he's long been one of the few sovietologists without ideological preconceptions to grind. Coming out of the Cold War period, that's a particularly valuable asset.

Here, he's at pains to show that Soviet institutions were not the unreformable behemoth our side made them out to be. A lesson I take is that collectivized economies, even the more rigid `communist' kind, are more flexible than usually credited. That Gorbachev's reforms ultimately failed appears more the result of personalities than of the system itself. One of the book's main burdens is to show how this happened. At the same time, readers accustomed to Cold War stereotypes should be prepared for surprises. One possibly controversial area of research is the extent to which Cohen relies on testimonials from deposed party head Gorbachev. The book does in fact do much to restore his reputation as a reformer, and at the occasional expense of his frequently lauded successor Boris Yeltsin.

All in all, anyone interested in the history of the Soviet Union and its post-Soviet period should pick up the book for a clearer-eyed view than Americans are customarily presented with.

8 people found this helpful

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Rethinking US-Russia Policy

Reviewed in the United States on November 29, 2014

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A necessary read for anyone wanting to understand the realities behind US-Russia relations since the end of the Cold War and today. Cohen is extremely knowledgable on Russian policy and the book is thoroughly researched.

Cohen outlines several missed opportunities since the beginning of the Soviet Union which may have changed the course of Russian history, providing a cohesive union and government among the former republics till this day.

Further, Cohen risks severe scrutiny by academics, foreign policy experts, the media and American citizens in order to expose the truth behind a failed US foreign policy toward Russia over the last 25 years.

As with much of history it is not always what it seems. This book challenges the reader to view the long held perceptions of a Russian Cold War defeat in the context of historical fact and understand how those perceptions have skewed US foreign policy toward Russia in a way that is self-defeating to US security and interests.

2 people found this helpful

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Susan

Provocative

Reviewed in the United States on February 23, 2014

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A provocative and well-researched book by a leading scholar in the field. The big drawback is that there is no bibliography and only a brief index -- only an enormous number of end notes. So if you want to find an author or work that is referred to as an "op. cit." in footnote 174 for chapter 4, to take a random example, you will never find it.

6 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

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Anckarström

Der neue kalte Krieg viel gefährlicher als zuvor

Reviewed in Germany on March 15, 2017

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Obwohl dieses Buch schon 2009 geschrieben ist (mit einem Nachwort aus 2011) ist sie heute noch brandaktuell. Das beste Buch das ich bisher über die aktuellen Beziehungen zwischen Russland und den Westen das ich bisher gelesen habe. Cohen ist auch ein Historiker mit langer Erfahrung – er war schon in den 70er und 80er Jahren in Russland und hat Anfang der 90er Jahre dort als erster westlicher Wissenschaftler bisher geheimgehaltene Dokumente sehen dürfen.
Er beschreibt hier wie die politische Wende unter Gorbachow und Jelzin stattgefunden hat und wie vor allem die Amerikanischen Regierungen unter Clinton, Bush II und Obama die grosse Gelegenheit für einen dauerhaften Frieden mit Russland verspielt haben. Gorbatschow hat den kalten Krieg beendet, und der Westen hat ihn wieder angefangen. Diesmal aber viel gefährlicher als zur Sovietzeiten, weil heute keine Kontrollmechanismen für Konfliktlösungen existieren und offensichtlich auch die Erkenntnisse, die 1962 bei der Kubakrise gewonnen waren, nicht mehr in Washington existieren.

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PERETTE GUILLAUME

A great history book

Reviewed in France on October 15, 2014

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Stephen Cohen copes brillantly with inherent difficulties of contemporary History writing : he manages to select the relevant biogragraphies, political and social data to give us deep perspectives..
This is an insightful book, a great contribution to our understanding of modern Russia.and former soviet countries.

Guillaume

K M Sinsheimer

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 18, 2015

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Excellent

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