Gorbachev and Yeltsin as Leaders

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AuthorGeorge W Breslauer
PublisherCambridge University Press
PublishedJun 05 2012
Book FormatPaperback
ISBN-139780521892445
Dimensions9.02 X 6.12 X 0.85 inches
Weight 1.03 pounds
BISAC
CategoriesHistory > Russia & the Former Soviet Union
LanguageEnglish

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Book Description

Examining the strategies employed by Mikhail Gorbachev and Boris Yeltsin to build leadership authority, George Breslauer focuses on the power of ideas, as leaders use them to mobilize support and to craft an image as effective problem solvers, indispensable consensus builders, and symbols of national unity. Throughout the book, Breslauer compares Gorbachev and Yeltsin, and Khrushchev and Brezhnev, analyzing the changes in policy, the strategies, and the political dilemmas that are common to all four administrations. He addresses such questions as: Could Yeltsin have pursued a more beneficial path to a market economy, despite Western advisors and actions of the International Monetary Fund? For the chapters about Gorbachev, Breslauer was able to interview former members of the leader's politburo, including those who plotted Gorbachev's overthrow. Interested in how leaders make changes, Breslauer looks at how these leaders justified their actions and outflanked their opponents. Breslauer sheds new light on the end of Soviet communism and Russia's transition to a market economy. George W. Breslauer, is Dean of Social Sciences and Professor at the University of California, Berkeley. He has written and edited ten books about Soviet and post-Soviet politics and foreign policy, including Counterfactual Thought Experiments in World Politics (Princeton University Press, 1996) and Khrushchev and Brezhnev as Leaders (London: Allen and Unwin, 1982). In 1998, he was awarded the Chancellor's Professorship for combining excellence in research, teaching, and university service and was most recently appointed Dean of Social Sciences at Berkeley.

Author Bio

George W. Breslauer was born in New York City on March 4, 1946. He received his BA, MA, and PhD degrees in Political Science from the University of Michigan in 1966, 1968 and 1973, respectively. In 1971, Professor Breslauer joined the faculty of the Department of Political Science, University of California at Berkeley, as a specialist on Soviet politics and foreign relations. He advanced through the ranks to full professor of political science, was awarded the Distinguished Teaching Award of the Division of Social Sciences in 1997, and was appointed Chancellor’s Professor in 1998.

Professor Breslauer is the author or editor of 12 books on Soviet and Russian politics and foreign relations, most recently Gorbachev and Yeltsin as Leaders (Cambridge University Press, 2002). He has served as Editor of the scholarly quarterly, Post-Soviet Affairs (1992 to the present). Professionally, he also served on the Board of Trustees, National Council for Soviet and East European Research (1985-1991; Vice Chairman, 1988-1991), served on the Committee on the Contributions of the Social and Behavioral Sciences to the Prevention of Nuclear War, National Research Council (1986-1992), on the Board of Directors, American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies (1990-1993; Executive Committee, 1991-1993).

Professor Breslauer is a member of the American Political Science Association, the American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies, the World Affairs Council of Northern California, the Pacific Council on International Policy, and the Council on Foreign Relations (New York). At UC Berkeley, Professor Breslauer served as Chair of the Center for Slavic and East European Studies (1984-1994), Chair of the Department of Political Science (1993-1996), Dean of the Division of Social Sciences, College of Letters and Science (1999-2006), and Executive Dean of the College of Letters and Science (2005-2006).

He is married to a Cal alum, Yvette Assia Breslauer (’77), has a daughter, Michelle, who works in New York City, and a son, David, who graduated in spring 2010 with a PhD in Bio-engineering in the joint program between UC Berkeley and UC San Francisco.

Research Interests

Soviet Union
Russia
Political Leadership

Source: University Berkeley