No Shock therapy in Russia

Mind elaborating? I take no offense, just wish to see your point. The OP wasn't about making Russia a better place, it was about the lack of shock therapy. Examples of countries which did not introduce such a policy involves Belarus and China - and as much as I know the flaws of Russia's 'democracy', I have to hand it to it, it still fares better in terms of political/personal freedoms than China or Belarus. And 'anarchy' is hardly a accurate description - after all Chechenya wasn't allowed to secede, signifying a degree of central power and order.

Yeltsin was hardly a decent leader, yes. But in many aspects his lack of leadership allowed for a decentralisation of power, which was good. That some power was transfered to oligarchs in the meantime was not, but still better for those oligarchs to be 'indpendent' than to be another incarnation of state sponsored aristocracy Russia so often ends up having.

Russia's 'democracy' was in spite of Yeltsin not because of him he ruled during a time where the Russian GDP fell by 50% and the mafia dons who styled themselves 'oligarchs', helped strip the nation's assets whilst becoming they very 'state sponsored aristocracy' you seem to have issue with.

Decentralisation of power, isnt always a good thing it can lead to the choas of Russia in the 1990's, China in the 1920's and other thrid world states. Also it should be said that the late Gorbachev U.S.S.R was overall much more free & democratic than the regimes ruling the former SSR's today...

As for Chechenya the first war was a ham-fisted cluster-fuck but had little to do with the Chechen regime's desire to leave the RF and more to do with their ethnic cleansing, launching slave raids and other foul deeds.

Are there any possible would-be Soviet leaders in the 70's/80's who were of the economic reformist, political authoritarian mould of Deng Xiaoping?

Andropov until his kidneys packed in. A good POD would be to have Brezhnev die sooner or Andropov live longer.
 
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