Warm words and harsh advice: a critique of the West's role in Russian reforms

The books under review all argue that the economic 'shock therapy' adopted in Russia after 1991 with Western encouragement caused grave damage to the fabric of Russian society and therefore to the Russian economy and the cause of Russian democracy. The books also sketch out possible alternatives to the policies that the West supported. The reviewer suggests that the expression I warm words and harsh advice' would be a fair description of Western official policy immediately before and after the fall of communism. He concludes that the survival of Russian democracy requires favourable preconditions not only in Russia but also in the outside world, which are lacking at the moment.