The phenomenon of state-led development has been persistent throughout modern history and remains significant today. Latecomers in the world's development, from Russia in the 19th century to contemporary China, persistently resorted to the state as a developmental instrument in economic...

In the postsoviet decade Russian railways remained highly centralised, evaded the upheavals of mass privatisation, and remained the backbone of a demoralised economy. Preserving much of Soviet practice, the Railways Ministry mounted a skilled rearguard action that achieved a gradual and...

The plight of women in post-reform Russia has its roots in the combination of the new, untrammelled market system and the old legacy of discrimination. The Soviet Union was the first country to give women equal rights and equal pay, but this was not carried through in practice. This is the first...