crossed at the end of the communist party of the soviet union i'm joined by ronald suny in and arbor is a professor of social and political history at the university of michigan in princeton we have mark eisinger he is professor of politics at princeton university all right gentlemen this is cross-eyed then you can jump in anytime you want mark if i can go to you first in princeton the primary reason why i'm doing this not only is it being twentieth anniversary of the end of the communist party of the soviet union but to remind people of the events of nine hundred ninety one and how much it really changed the world and how we how the world is. moved on from one great epic conflict to maybe another epic conflict and we can throw in the economic crisis here what is the most important legacy of what happened twenty years ago in the country that i'm living in right now russia well i think for there is a there's a global legacy obviously the end of the cold war the end of the division of the planet within russia russia had been ruled soviet union had been ruled by. a party state essential

the communist party of the soviet union was but once it collapsed everything else went with it i mean it was the total collapse. well you know actually the state didn't collapse in many ways the state actually fragmented so they're little pieces of the state and in fact in some places the you know members of the politburo are actually still in power such as in kazakhstan so i think. you know exaggerated. plus you know i think they were all various ways in which the institutions that were there under communism played a major role in the whole transition process that didn't totally disappear in fact ironically the communists were in the forefront of the movements that did the soviet union so if you look at the leadership of the estonian popular front if you look at the at the leadership of the alternative movements communists actually were very prominently represented within them well that's interesting well if i go back to you but you know if we look at the i've always limited to the communist party of russia the russian federation is that it never took the the it failed to take

be provocative you did glasnost and perestroika destroy the communist party of the soviet union. i'd have to say of the two glasnost destroyed the communist party of the soviet union the communist party of the soviet union was built as an instrument basically to control the state and to control the public sphere and once you opened up the public sphere the communist party really couldn't control it that the the debates that tore the communist party apart were essentially over the impact of grossness now a lot of people talk about the economy and how the economy and economic competition destroyed the communist party there is some truth in that in that but i think that that really wasn't the central element of what happened in fact i think the so you know it could have survived for a long time had no no pressing economic crisis what it had was a legitimacy crisis. and that's where. you know glasnost came in. you know when sure noble occurred for instance and it just highlighted the the gulf between the party and and the truth and so it was basically already you know six or seven mo

and the soviet union itself all in very close proximity is really about personal ambition about you know between yeltsin and between got a much off and it didn't matter now be provocative here it didn't matter the damage they both left behind it was a power grab and it was for prestige and and legacy essentially and they didn't care if the promised party fell apart or the soviet union it's there it was their place in history and how they would rule in the future obviously mr yeltsin won. yes very much i thought couple points i agree peter that i was it was a power grab between those two leaders but i think it's more deep as well and two elements i don't think we may have touched upon sufficient that for one would be the role of nationalism not only russian nationalism which a lot of yeltsin managed to put himself and head of but also in the various ethnic republics i think it's no coincidence that the leaders of several sent to several central asian republics today were or have been former communist party bosses and i think the second point i would add would be the struggle over

first of all, roald was holding a very important position within the soviet union. two, as a matter of fact. he was a member of their parliament, the old supreme soviet. and he was also the head of the space research institute. and he told me early on that there would really be no way that he could hold those official positions and be involved with me. so he said that since this was what he wanted to do, he would have to undergo a very complicated job of trying to resign from his positions and to go into so-called private life. i have to tell you, by the way, there's no such thing as private life. there wasn't in the soviet union. you didn't resign from things. there was no culture (ph) for it. you just continued to serve, be promoted or demoted, but there was really very little personal choice involved in many of these things. so when he, in fact, handed in his resignation, it created an absolute firestorm. this was the first time anyone had suggested that he wanted to do something else with his life, so -- knowing at the time what that specific thing was. c-span: y

of the soviet union. how do you see the future of kazakhstan? >> it is very much a place writing its own future. they made commitments, last year, they were the head of the organization of security and cooperation in europe. they made a long-term vision for a country that is very much a western country in the sort of democratic and human rights values. that is not something that is going to happen overnight. over the next five or 10 years into the future, this country will continue to remake itself. it has gone from an impoverished soviet country to a modern, growing one. where it goes next is up to the people. it is a constant process. all countries change, but the pace of change here is something different. from independence to today in the same 200 years the united states took, but here it is only 20. >> i know this is a new posting for you. congratulations on being confirmed by the senate. what do you see as your mission? >> my mission in every country i have served in is to try to implement u.s. poli

next on our team twenty years after the collapse of the soviet union we continue our look at the power of its former states and taken its time with see how life has changed in that which these days as a member of the european union. it seems blanched used independence day it's pomp and fanfare the truest sense of any other public holiday in the country on this day the republic's top leaders gather to lay flowers and the freedom monument in latvia scarcer riga. informal events like the torture sessions are held in the evening of the same day people who see themselves as the country's true patriots marched through streets closed to traffic for the occasion of the first sessions old denies by the radical nationalist party known as or from montreal. however many people don't identify themselves with the festivities they are russian speaking residents they make up nearly forty percent of the country's population half of them have not yet received citizenship rights. let me lindemann is a columnist for several months in newspapers you'll soon base to gates cases of public interest and publis

another one made minivans which were used as ambulances throughout the soviet union. today their production line stand idle. factory workers an engineer is going to small business. plants vs highly skilled professionals have left the country in search of a job. well the coolies technology innovation all the least of elements from around russia we've got the future covered. under the soviets this factory provided jobs for twelve thousand workers it made radio sets radio cassette players and tape recorders to cater to the needs of people across the soviet union. by the late one nine hundred eighty s. several plans making radio in elec tronic equipment had been set up in latvia they were the soviet union's most advanced enterprises. of the times i worked in a similar tree for about fifteen years before the break up of the soviet union there were close to eight hundred employees in the design bureau where i myself was employed are you know you can see what's left of its were almost burned out of only one design a working year. when lanphier achieved independence the repub

another one made minivans which were used as ambulances throughout the soviet union. today their production line stand idle. factory workers an engineer is going to small business. latvia's highly skilled professionals have left the country in search of a jog. downlink be official auntie allocation chobani phone i pod touch for me i choose ops to. enjoy life on the go. video on demand policies of mine broadcasts an r.s.s. feeds now in the palm of your. question on the t.v. job call. under the soviets this factory provided jobs for twelve thousand workers and made radio sets radio cassette plays and tape recorders to cater to the needs of people across the soviet union. by the late one nine hundred eighty s. several plans making radio an epic tronic equipment had been set up in latvia they were the soviet union's most advanced enterprises. in soviet times i worked in a similar oratory for about fifteen years before the break up of the soviet union to there were close to eight hundred employees in the design bureau where i myself was employed and where you have no you c

some millions of russians moved into poverty and many became this knowledge of the times of the soviet union when low prices in this. and wages were guaranteed by the state the communist party grew in popularity on the back of that sentiment throughout the turbulent nineties but the turn of a century so great economic stability in russia and the subsequent someone in the party's approval ratings yet despite the ups and downs the party has seen its candidates always the second you know presidential elections since the fall of it was just on the seven decades communists in the soviet union accepted no rivals now they find themselves in a parliamentary election race with six other bodies including their major opponent the ruling united russia party which won six times as many seats in the state duma four years ago. that yellow mr zyuganov and welcome to the show. says we have an international audience my first question go to this is the communist party happy with russia's current foreign policy and if not how would you change its. categories we are definitely not happy for one simple reason rus

seven decades israel communist still the soviet union accepted no rivals now they find themselves in a parliamentary election race with six other bodies including their major one and the ruling united russia party which won six times as many seats in the state duma four years ago. that it's hello mr zyuganov and welcome to the show that. says we have an international audience my first question go to this is the communist party happy with russia's current foreign policy and if not how would you change it but he's. pretty good he's. definitely not happy for one simple reason. russia's plan to following other country's policies and i'm able to resolve many of his problems will affect among other things how russia survives the crisis russia produces approximately five hundred million tons of crude oil which accounts for fifteen percent of global production at the same time where not convulsed in determining the price of that oil the price is determined by b. wigs in london and new york and since natural gas is packed to oil this basically means they decide gas prices to users it's not re

another one made minivans which were used as ambulances throughout the soviet union. today their production lines stand idle. factory workers an engineer is going to small business. plants vs highly skilled professionals have left the country in search of a job. culture is that so much going to make a lot of people a area at berkeley uncertain future as the eurozone grapples with the single currency what is the future of political union to save the euro is it necessary to get. the world. science technology innovation all the means developments from around russia we've got the future covered. under the soviets this factory provided jobs for twelve thousand workers and made radio sets radio cassette players and tape recorders to cater to the needs of people across the soviet union. by the late one nine hundred eighty s. several plans making radio and electronic equipment had been set up in latvia they were the soviet union's most advanced enterprises wilcannia of the in soviet times i worked in a similar tree for about fifteen years because goethe only for the break up

another one made minivans which were used as ambulances throughout the soviet union. today their production line stand idle. factory workers an engineer is going to small business. plants vs highly skilled professionals have left the country in search of a job. wealthy british style stock. market why not. come to. find out what's really happening to the global economy with max conjure there are no holds barred look at the global financial headlines tune in to cause a report on our team. under the soviets this factory provided jobs for twelve thousand workers it made radio sense radio cassette plays and tape recorders to cater to the needs of people across the soviet union. by the late one nine hundred eighty s. several plans making radio and electronic equipment had been set up in latvia they were the soviet union's most advanced enterprises. in soviet times i worked in a similar ordering for about fifteen years before the breakup of the soviet union but it was close to eight hundred employees in the design bureau where i myself was employed but you know you can see w

in the election race aspired to be the first in one thousand nine hundred one just before the soviet union collapsed becoming a splotch of the van soviet republic of russia was banned by decreed by president yeltsin the two years later the party regime urged under the leadership of do not use uganda the painful transition from state front and wanting to in the one nine hundred ninety s. some millions of russians into poverty many became this knowledge of the times of the soviet union when low prices in the. and wages were guaranteed by the state because party grew in popularity on the back of that sentiment throughout the turbulent ninety's but the turn of the century so great you can only expect there within russia and the subsequent song in the party's approval ratings yet despite the ups and downs the party has seen its candidates always the second you know presidential elections since the school of if you insist on seven decades a liberal communist illicit union accepted no rivals now they find themselves in a parliamentary election race with six other parties including their major opp

the soviet union the war in afghanistan has. it so badly back in the eighty's you know it very much contributed lessons to be very well this is a lesson that did not and put it to a multiple occasions osama bin laden had been part of the anti soviet resistance originally as a humanitarian worker in pakistan and then eventually went to the battlefield and got so caught up with that that he ended up leading a team of arabs who fought against the soviets inside of afghanistan you know they were pretty incidental to the fights there are far more afghans there were arabs in any given point inside of other afghanistan fighting the soviets but to this was kind of the parity that it failed of how you get a superpower by training them that the afghan soviet war brought down the soviet union and i think it's not entirely clear historically that it did. especially if you did get it it's it's not entirely clear what kind of battle has historians have mixed views on this given that you by the age of eighty six the afghan war cost about three

another one made minivans which were used as ambulances throughout the soviet union. today their production line stand idle. factory workers an engine is gone into small business. grant fee is highly skilled professionals have left the country and search of a job. commission free accreditation free transfer charges free. range month three. three stooges free. download free broadcast quality video for your media projects and free media on down to r.t. dot com. under the soviets this factory provided jobs for twelve thousand workers it made radio sense radio cassette players and tape recorders to cater to the needs of people across the soviet union. by the late one nine hundred eighty s. several plans making radio an electronic equipment had been set up in latvia they were the soviet union's most advanced enterprises. in soviet times i worked in a similar trade for about fifteen years before the break up of the servian in europe what they were close to eight hundred employees in the design bureau where i myself was employed to produce legacy what's left of its former sp

dollars i would want to accept the loss of oil export money as well as green shortages within the soviet union and you will price tag of those far the worth of the afghan soviet war but if the afghan soviet war was a significant contributor it was precisely to get down in that one theater and thus make good on evil for the soviet union to adapt to other crises that if so i think they are definitely the best of the middle west and in the first instance because this is precisely how big you just fight against the united states which means that wouldn't when your enemy is so intent on grinding down your economy one thing you have to do is make sure that you don't fall into that trap and the second lesson is that even if expenditure isn't a massive part of your budget it can have an impact and as i said the impact of the actives of it where i found should be historically i further to be a historical question mark but what is indisputable is it certainly didn't help the soviet union and the amount of money that the us has spent over all of the war on terror. even when adjusted for inflation is beca

the afghan soviet war brought down the soviet union i think it's not entirely clear historically that it did. especially if you did get it it's it's not entirely clear what kind of good bad it has historians have mixed views of this given that you're by nature to six the afghan war cost about three billion dollars i would want to accept the loss of oil export money as well as shortages within the soviet union and you will price tag but those far do worth the after observing it war but if the afghan soviet war was a significant contributor it was precisely by the ground to get down in that one theater and thus making it an evil for the soviet union to adapt to other crises that if they so i think there are definitely lessons image a lesson in the first instance because this is precisely how did you decide against the united states which means that wouldn't when your enemy is so intent on grinding down your economy one thing you have to do is make sure that you don't fall into that trap and a second lesson is that even if it expenditure isn't a massive part of your budget it can have it

after nine hundred ninety one with the collapse of the soviet union the agenda of i.m.f. privatization free market economy and so forth so that western banks and financial agencies and corporations could come in and take the plunder the second agenda is militarily from places such as libya or south sudan the so-called republic of south sudan to militarize those oil sources that are directly strategic to china's future economic growth so this is all about controlling eurasia something's being abridgements he talked about it back in one thousand nine hundred seven in his famous book the grand chess game. to control the especially russia and china and any potential cohesion of the race should countries economically and politically but as a result of. this so-called arab spring what can we honestly say that the middle east and. north african countries which have come through with changes have they really become more democratic gyptian tunisian friends of mine say that it's just the opposite the economy is in far worse shape and libya had the highest living standard in all of