When President Vladimir Putin ascended to the Kremlin at the end of the 1990s, he had to struggle with the after-effects of Boris Yeltsin's political agenda: outrageous corruption, endless social injustice, and deeply entrenched interests dating back to Gorbachev and beyond. From the outset, Putin saw his task as leveling out the political scenery. Discontent had been building up among ordinary Russians on these consequences of the dramatically unstable 1990s. Stabilization of the political system and cleaning up the widespread corruption were Putin's aims, and the Russian people supported...

Political instability and military clashes in the Balkans during the 1990s resulted in many countries joining the European Union, or obtaining the status of candidate countries. Many others are hoping to do so soon, while moving toward greater socioeconomic stability. The co-authors of this book, both experts in the politics and economics of the region, argue that the Balkan Peninsula is a critical region in the struggle for international stability today.

The Political Economy of Southeast Europe from 1990 to the Present takes the reader on a historical...

When President Vladimir Putin ascended to the Kremlin at the end of the 1990s, he had to struggle with the after-effects of Boris Yeltsin's political agenda: outrageous corruption, endless social injustice, and deeply entrenched interests dating back to Gorbachev and beyond. From the outset, Putin saw his task as leveling out the political scenery. Discontent had been building up among ordinary Russians on these consequences of the dramatically unstable 1990s. Stabilization of the political system and cleaning up the widespread corruption were Putin's aims, and the Russian people...