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To Build a Democratic Russia, We Must Stop Kidding Ourselves About Yeltsin
A change has begun in the Russian democratic opposition as a new generation comes to terms with how the catastrophic betrayals of the 1990s define Russia’s present. Open dialogue about this era, long taboo, is essential for any hope of establishing the freedom and justice that were within reach but never appeared after the fall of the Soviet Union.
At the vanguard of this change is the recent documentary “Traitors” from the Anti-Corruption Foundation (ACF), in which Maria Pevchikh exposes the mistakes of the Russian government in the 1990s. The film may have an effect comparable to Nikita Khrushchev’s report that exposed Stalin’s personality cult at the 20th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, opening up a vital opportunity to reform a deeply damaged system.
In the eyes of most Russians, democracy and liberalism have been tarnished by their association with Boris Yeltsin and the chaotic 1990s. Therefore, the quest to build a democratic future for Russia will have to learn from the mistakes of that infamous decade, which allowed the country to slide into today’s rigidly authoritarian regime.
The 20th Congress, though read behind closed doors, launched a long process of rethinking the ideas of socialism. The movie “Traitors” – streamed to an audience of millions – could be something similar in terms of the future of the ideology of liberalism and democracy in Russia.
Khrushchev’s secret speech “On Stalin’s Cult of Personality and its Consequences” accused the deceased General Secretary of abusing his power and departing from the foundational “Leninist principles” at the heart of the socialist project.
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