The Reform of the Soviet System and the Demise of the Soviet State
Author(s)
Kramer, Mark
Abstract
Mark Kramer agrees with Cohen’s general argument and welcomes Cohen’s rebuttal of the “retrospective determinism” that is so common in the literature on the subject, but he raises questions about the way Cohen defines and assesses the “Soviet system.” Kramer argues that it is important to distinguish between the Soviet system and the Soviet state and that the demise of the former did not have to be accompanied by the end of the latter. He also expresses concern that Cohen’s article implies, if only inadvertently, that the Soviet system could not have survived unless it had been drastically reformed.
