The Yeltsin Legacy

Ilya Sonin looks back on Boris Yeltsin. It’s easy to see Yeltsin as a buffoonish character, but he also was one of the people most responsible for keeping Russia from collapsing into utter anarchy following the fall of the Soviet regime. That is not a small feat by any means. The fall of the Soviet Union could have been an unmitigated disaster, but Yeltsin helped guide Russia on the right path towards democracy.

As Russia slides further and further into authoritarianism, Yeltsin’s period of reform and democracy may yet be seen as Russia’s all-too-brief golden age…