A Comparative Perspective Of Post Communist Transition

The democratization, economic liberalization, and eventual collapse of the Soviet Union is commonly attributed to Mikhail Gorbachev's Perestroika and Glasnost reforms during the period of 1985-1991. This purpose of these reforms is still a trenchant question as the countries of the old Soviet Union, particular Russia, are being pressured to further liberalize their economies.

Since the market orientated economic reforms were introduced in 1978 (Khan, Hu (1997, P103) China’s economy has seen a 10% increase in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) Per year (Vincellete, Manoel,

The Russian state has been characterized by its strong heritage of powerful, autocratic leadership. This domination by small ruling elite has been seen throughout Russia's history and has transferred into its economic history. Throughout the Russian czarist period, to the legacy of seventy years of communism; Russia has been a country marked by strong central state planning, a strict command economy and an overall weak market infrastructure (Goldman, 2003). Self-interest, manipulation and corruption have all been present in the Russian economy, and have greatly helped the few as opposed to the many. To this day, Russia still struggles with creating a competitive and fair market.

In the past, nations have decided to run their counties under a command economy, or “an economy in which production, investment, prices, and incomes are determined centrally by a government.” Command economies are more prevalent in developing countries, like on the continents of Africa and Asia. North Korea, Iran, Cuba, Myanmar, and Liberia currently have command economies and the Soviet Union and China used to have one. In the past, many countries including the Soviet Union attempted to implement command economies that would later fail. As a result, most of the current countries using them are beginning to make reforms to leave their command economies behind, like Mikhail Gorbachev’s glasnost, or political transparency, and perestroika, also known as economic restructuring, in the 1980’s (Dewdney). The Soviet Union officially collapsed in December 1991, ending the long-standing communist rule under a command economy in Russia and its satellite countries for good.

The rise in China from a poor, stagnant country to a major economic power within a time span of twenty-eight years is often described by analysts as one of the greatest success stories in these present times. With China receiving an increase in the amount of trade business from many countries around the world, they may soon be a major competitor to surpass the U.S. China became the second largest economy, last year, overtaking Japan which had held that position since 1968 (Gallup). China could become the world’s largest economy in decades.

In both Russia and China, they used the ideologies of Karl Marx to influence the way their country was run. Communism has been present in both China and Russia for quite some time. While they may have occurred at different times and had slowly started to drift apart in similarities, they still have a few things in common.

However, the implications of globalisation can form volatility in the international business cycle. Highly integrated economies are at greater risk of experiencing economic downturn in the business cycle. Therefore, China’s utilised process of economic liberalisation has reflected in ability to embrace globalisation and maximise the benefits of economic integration and rapid growth. As this evolutionary process continues, by 2025 China will be the world’s biggest economy (Ross Gittins: How Asia is catching up with the rich West). The Chinese ‘economic renaissance’ began in the 1970s after the government converted from socialist economy to a capitalist economy.

Russia and China face many similar challenges in their transitions to market economies. Both countries have extremely large populations and huge landmasses. They also both are autonomous countries that have experienced thousands of years of autocracy. Historically being land empires in the center of Eurasia, they developed strong central state legacies with distinct identities, cultures, and legitimacies. As former command socialist economies, establishing a market capitalist system was a daunting task for both Russia and China. The nations had to attempt to invent the process throughout transition. They must establish property rights, establish banking systems, deal with inflation, and overcome ideological antipathy towards capitalism. Considering the similar factors and conditions both nations dealt with creates for interesting comparison and contrast in analyzing the causes of China’s successes and Russia’s failures in transitioning to a market economy. In this paper, I will compare and contrast the role of property rights in the economic transitions of Russia and China through an analysis of the states’ approaches to transformation and the role of the states throughout reform.

The eventual demise of Communism in the USSR was a direct consequence of the Soviet Union’s failure to adapt to the changes occurring in the world during the 1920’s to the 1940’s. Unlike Communist China, the USSR failed to place economic growth ahead of political reform. In this regard, Russia was unsuccessful in establishing a national identity and in instituting a stable government through popular consent of its people. Moreover, Communist Russia failed to create a national identity, ignoring the multitude of ethnic minorities existing in the USSR. Arguably, the future stability of the two previously conventional Communist countries, will reflect their ability to develop a market economy, establish a stable government, and be recognized and involved on a global scale.

Meanwhile in China, Mao Zedong was ruler and Stalin was ruler in Russia. China wanted to increase agricultural output and Russia wanted to increase industrial output, but they both have similarity in wanting to increase economic output by starting huge programs to support it. Another connection of difference between them is that the Russian Revolution was much shorter and happened much earlier, while China’s was longer and started after a while, but they both occurred at the end of two world wars. They also used different ways to get support. In China the communists party they had got support through the struggle against the Japanese invaders in WW2

On November 23, 1989, the Berlin Wall succumbed to the hands of masses of people, synonymous with the collapse of both the Soviet Union and the fall of communism. Yet, as the ‘free’ world rejoiced in this accomplishment, the economic and socioeconomic factors involved in a post-communist transition led to a drastic increase in human trafficking

Many political beliefs exist. Everyone has the right to chose what to believe in, what ideas to have, what to seek and how to achieve his goals. Political science is not very defined and strict. Specific rules saying that if one believes in a certain idea he should join a certain party do not exist. Certain things match certain group of people and other things this group of people would not accept. The same principle can be applied for countries. Communism appears to be successful for China, but it failed for Eastern European countries. It is very important the proper way of government to be found and used by the government of a country. The failure of the government can lead to failure in

“The New Great Game: China and South and Central Asia in the Era of Reform” (2016) by Thomas Fingar. He described in his book that the growth of China has generated mixed reaction of elicited envy, admiration, and fear among its neighbors. Although much has been written about this, previous coverage portrays events as determined almost entirely by Beijing. Such accounts minimize or ignore the other side of the equation: namely, what individuals, corporate actors, and governments in other countries do to attract, shape, exploit, or deflect Chinese involvement. The New Great Game analyzes and describes how Chinese policies and priorities affix with the goals and actions of other states in the region. To explore the reciprocal nature of relations

We will begin our analysis of these questions by examining China’s economy at the time of Deng Xiaoping’s accession to power in 1978 and the economic growth strategy he and his successor implemented which ultimately led China to ascension into the WTO. We will then review various conditions imposed upon China by the WTO and how China reacted to those changes and to what extent these lead to China’s current status and interaction

The purpose of this essay is to show how the economy of China has, and is changing, becoming the second largest economy in the world today. Although China is currently under the leadership of Xi Jinping, this essay will concentrate primarily on the actions undertaken by then President Mao Zedong, followed by then President Deng Xiaoping, (sans mention of Hua Guofeng). Given the relative infancy of Xi’s assumption of power, economic policies still remain largely rhetorical in form. Likewise, the majority of literature concerning economic policies under Xi are largely speculative, often citing strategies and ambitions as opposed to thereby, lacking a solid basis for rational induction In addition to China’s lack of transparency, In addition, it will be shown that the methodology behind the Chinese economy demonstrates the implementation of varying levels of the characteristics associated with the schools of Realism, Marxism and Liberalism. Thus, China’s approach to global trade in the 21st Century is pluralistic, testamentary to the failed economic