The New Cold War: Revolutions, Rigged Elections, and Pipeline Politics in the Former Soviet Union - Hardcover

Mark A. MacKinnon

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0786720832 ISBN 13: 9780786720835

Publisher: Basic Books, 2007

Synopsis

When the Berlin Wall fell in 1989 and the Soviet Union collapsed two years later, liberal democracy was supposed to fill the void left by Soviet Communism. Poland and Czechoslovakia made the best of reforms, but the citizens of the "Evil Empire" itself saw little of the promised freedom, and more of the same old despots and corruption. Recently, a second wave of reforms — Serbia in 2000, Georgia in 2003, and Ukraine in 2004, as well as Kyrgyzstan's regime change in 2005 — have proven almost as monumental as those in Berlin and Moscow. The people of the Eastern bloc, aided in no small part by Western money and advice, are again rising up and demanding an end to autocracy. And once more, the Kremlin is battling the White House every step of the way. Mark MacKinnon spent these years working in Moscow, and his view of the story and access to those involved remains unparalleled. With The New Cold War, he reveals the links between these democratic revolutions — and George Soros, the idealistic American billionaire behind them — in a major investigation into the forces that are quietly reshaping the post-Soviet world.

About this title

About the Author

Mark MacKinnon was the Moscow bureau chief for the Globe and Mail from 2002 to 2005, and in addition to Eastern Europe covered the wars in Afghanistan, Chechnya and Iraq. A two-time winner of the National Newspaper Award, Canada's top reporting prize, his latest posting is in the Middle East.

Reviews

MacKinnon, a former Moscow bureau chief for Toronto's Globe and Mail, explores the theory and practice of managed democracy in this well-researched and engrossing investigation into post-Soviet politics. While Putin cements power in Russia by co-opting now independent neighboring countries, pro-democracy advocates—including the likes of George Soros, as well as familiar organizations like Freedom House—work with the American government to support Western-oriented movements and political parties in the region. Focusing on the Commonwealth of Independent States and other formerly Soviet-influenced states such as Serbia and Slovakia, MacKinnon chastises both democrats and authoritarians for their actions. While officially nonpartisan, Western organizations make no secret of their allegiances and goals, he shows. For example, the U.S.-Ukraine Foundation, which received extensive support from U.S. taxpayer-funded USAID during the Orange Revolution of 2004, is run by the wife of Ukrainian president Viktor Yushchenko. In a recent Ukrainian election, he notes, a number of foreign (mostly Canadian) poll watchers had to be asked to remove orange Yushchenko scarves so as to at least maintain the appearance of neutrality. MacKinnon's provocative book will interest anyone concerned about the possibilities and shortcomings of democratic change and popular revolution. (Sept.)
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Edition details

• Publisher: Basic Books
• Publication date: 2007
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0786720832
• ISBN 13: 9780786720835
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 336