W. E. BUTLER Professor of Comparative Law, University of London, UKBHAVNA DAVE Lecturer in Central Asian Studies, School of Oriental and African Studies, UKMARTIN DEWHIRST Glasgow University, UKPETER J. S. DUNCAN Senior Lecturer in Russian Politics and Society, School of Slavonic and East European Studies, University College London, UKSHEILA FITZPATRICK Bernadotte E. Schmitt Distinguished Service Professor in Modern Russian History, University of Chicago, USAVLADIMIR GEL'MAN Lecturer in Russian Politics, European University of St Petersburg, RussiaPHILIP HANSON Professor of the Political Economy of Russia and Eastern Europe, University of Birmingham (retired)ALENA LEDENEVA Reader in Russian Politics, School of Slavonic and East European Studies, University College London, UKDOV LYNCH Lecturer in War Studies, King's College, London, UKVERA TOLZ Professor of Contemporary Russian History, University of Salford, UKJANINE WEDEL Associate Professor, School of Public Policy, George Mason University, USA

• Preface and Acknowledgements; A.Wilson INTRODUCTION The Soviet Union in Retrospect; S.Fitzpatrick PART I: NATIONAL IDENTITY A Future Russia: A Nation-State or a Multi-National Federation?; V.Tolz Rival Versions of East Slavic Identity in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus; A.Wilson Separatist States and Post-Soviet Conflicts; D.Lynch Management of Ethnic Relations in Kazakhstan: Stability Without Success; B.Dave PART II: THE ECONOMY Transactions in the US-Russia Relationship: Representational Gymnastics, Shifting Agency and Russia's Decline; J.Wedel Blat Lessons: Networks, Institutions, Unwritten Rules; A.Ledeneva Administrative Regions and the Economy; P.Hanson PART III: POLITICS, LAW AND FOREIGN POLICY Law Reform and Civic Culture; W.Butler Censorship and Restrictions of Freedom of Speeach in Russia 1986 - 1991-2001; M.Dewhirst Politics Beyond the Garden Ring: Rethinking the Post-Soviet Experience; V.Gel'man Westernism, Eurasianism and Pragmatism: The Foreign Policies of the Post-Soviet States, 1991-2001; P.J.S.Duncan CONCLUSION Conclusions: Stalin's Death 50 Years On; W.Slater