From 'Glasnost' to the Internet: Russia's New Infosphere by Frank s> Ellis (review)
2002; Maney Publishing; Volume: 80; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1353/see.2002.0144
ISSN2222-4327
Autores Tópico(s)Cybersecurity and Cyber Warfare Studies
ResumoREVIEWS 39I of meetings and killings, it is an outstanding piece of investigation:detailed, far-reaching and full of both fascinating detail and effective insight. Having picked it up fully prepared to scorn and patronize it, I instead found myself learningmuch from the book. Friedmanis at his best when dealing with the human dimension. This is a man who did not just read up on the press clippings or debriefed police investigators. Friedman also met and talked to many from the underworld milieu, whether interviewing 'Brighton Beach goodfella' Marat Balagula in Lewisburgmaximum securityprisonorlisteningto Ludwig'Tarzan'Fainberg, on the eve of deportation from the USA, extolling its virtues: '"I love this country... It's so easy to stealhere"' (p. I69). And he is right. Open societies have proven frighteninglyvulnerable to a generation of gangsterswho cut theirteeth in the Soviet era (whatfearsdoes a Westernprison hold for a veteran of an Arctic Circle gulag?),then made their fortunes in the free-for-allafter I99I. Its Law of Return which allows any able to claim Jewish descent immigration rights has made Israel a haven for any crook able to pay the bribe to a Russian officialto get his documents altered.However, it is, asFriedmandiscusses,the United Stateswhich remains the truepromisedland forpost-Soviet organizedcrime. In part,thisisbecause of the mythology of American wealth and opportunity, but also for very practical reasons. Alliance with the entrenched but also more conservative Cosa Nostrahassuitedthepost-Sovietcriminalswell, andUS lawenforcement was originally hard-pressed to respond. In loving and entertaining detail, Friedmanoutlines some of the scamsrunby this influxof smartand ambitious criminalentrepreneurs,frommulti-milliondollarfuel tax fraudsto racketeering within the National Hockey League. To be sure, this is a journalistic account aimed for a mass readership. Friedmanis weaker on the wider context and when in doubt tends to accept some of the more extreme statisticsand allegationsat face value. But the irony is that, liberated by the absence of academic constraints and the need to footnote and dissect every fact and allegation, in many ways Friedman has managed to present a much more accurate picture than might otherwise be possible. Of course, there is much more to Russia than the mafiya, and for every criminal there are thousands of honest souls. But this criminal phenomenon is undeniably extraordinaryin its flexibility, dynamism, entrepreneurialism and, ultimately, ruthlessness all characteristicsadmirably capturedby thisbook. Department ofHistogy MARK GALEOTTI Keele University Ellis, Frank. From'Glasnost' to theInternet. Russia'sNefew Infosphere. Macmillan, Basingstoke and London, and St. Martin's Press, New York, I999. xxiii + 259 pp. Glossary. Chronology. Appendix. Notes. Bibliographies. Index. ?45.00? IN From'Glasnost' to theInternet: Russia'sJfewInfosphere, FrankEllis explores a wide range of themes, including the demise of Soviet censorship and the 392 SEER, 8o, 2, 2002 implications of its disappearance, and the developments in information technology during the 1990s. Ellis considers the advance of computer technology and the internet so important that when choosing his title, he eschewed the term 'media,' on the groundsthatthe word, associatedprimarily with print and broadcastmedia, does not 'dojustice to some of the profound changes and shiftstakingplace' in Russia and worldwide(p. ix). Ellis is the author of a book on Vasiliy Grossman, and his deep knowledge of Russian literature and culture contributes to one of the book's strengths. Chapter one contains less detail on the Soviet censorship system and the glasnost period than some other scholarly works, but it provides a valuable discussion of the impact of censorship on Soviet intellectual life, as well as a controversialargument about how the 'informationdeficit'(p. 3) contributed to the collapse of the Soviet Union. Chapter four, on Russia's 'culture and media wars' (p. I 25) is a thoughtful essay dealing with literatureduring and afterglasnostperiod, and especiallyhow the growingpopularityof low culture (suchasMexican soap operasand Westernvideos)eroded 'thespecialposition of the writer'(p. I137)in Russia. An English translationof the fundamental law on the mass media, which came into effect in early I992, appears as an appendix, and in chapter two, Ellisprovides a thorough discussionof the originsand main points of Russian media law through the mid-I99os. The legal landscape for the Russian media has changed significantly during the past five years, however. Readers interestedin laterdevelopments, such as the InformationSecurityDoctrine of 2000, should turn to...
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