Review

Timothy J. Colton, Moscow: Governing the Socialist Metropolis. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1996, xvi + 939 pp., £28.50.

Reiner Weichhardt (ed.), Status of Economic Reforms in Cooperation Partner Countries in the mid‐1990s: Opportunities, Constraints, Security Implications. Brussels: NATO, 1996, 293 pp.

Pal Gáspár (ed.), Changes and Challenges: Economic Transformation in East‐Central Europe. Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1995, 146 pp.

Ian Jeffries, A Guide to Economies in Transition. London: Routledge, 1996, ix + 816 pp.

Rumen Dobrinsky & Michael Landesmann (eds), Transforming Economies and European Integration. Aldershot: Edward Elgar, 1995, xvi + 331 pp. £59.95.

John P. Hardt & Richard F. Kaufman (eds), East‐Central European Economies in Transition. New York: M. E. Sharp, 1995, xv + 709 pp., $39.95.

Eckhard J. Dittrich, Gert Schmidt & Richard Whitley (eds), Industrial Transformation in Europe. Process and Contexts. London: Sage, 1995, x + 290 pp., £35.00.

Gary McMahon (ed.), Lessons in Economic Policy for Eastern Europe from Latin America. London and Basingstoke: Macmillan, 1996, xxii + 256 pp., $40.00.

Sergei Sinel'nikov‐Murylev, Byudzhetnyi krizis v Rossii: 1985–1995 gody. Moscow: Evraziya, 1995, 316 pp.

Sue Bridger, Rebecca Kay & Kathryn Pinnick, No More Heroines? Russia, Women and the Market. London: Routledge, 1996, ix + 220 pp., £12.99.

Simon Clarke (ed.), Labour Relations in Transition: Wages, Employment and Industrial Conflict in Russia. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, 1996, x + 282 pp., £49.95.

Oksana Dmitrieva, Regional Development: The USSR and After. London: UCL Press, 1996, xi + 211 pp., £40.00 h/b, £14.95 p/b.

Richard Pomfret, The Economies of Central Asia. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1996, 205 pp., £27.50.

Mehrdad Haghayeghi, Islam and Politics in Central Asia. London and Basingstoke: Macmillan, 1995, xxiv + 264 pp., £30.00.

Revaz Gachechiladze, The New Georgia: Space, Society, Politics. London: UCL Press, 1995, xxi + 205 pp., £40.00 h/b, £14.95 p/b.

Uri Ra'anan & Kate Martin (eds), Russia: A Return to Imperialism? Basingstoke: Macmillan, 1996, viii + 216 pp., £29.50.

Thomas Carothers, Assessing Democracy Assistance: The Case of Romania. Washington: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 1996, vi+ 144 pp., $12.95.

Peter Lentini (ed.), Elections and Political Order in Russia: The Implications of the 1993 Elections to the Federal Assembly. London: Oxford University Press/Central European University Press, 1995, xii + 292 pp., £30.00 h/b, £11.95 p/b.

Stephen White, Russia Goes Dry: Alcohol, State and Society. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996, xiii + 250 pp., £40.00 h/b, £14.95 p/b.

Edvard Radzinsky, Stalin: The First In‐depth Biography Based on Explosive New Documents from Russia's Secret Archives. Translated by H. T. Willetts. New York, Doubleday, 1996, xii + 607 pp.

Robert F. Byrnes, V. O. Kliuchevskii, Historian of Russia. Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, 1995, xxi + 301 pp., £31.50.     

Colombian transformations: Peasants and wage‐labourers in the Santa Marta Banana Zone

This paper examines the various forms of rural protest directed against the United Fruit Company in Colombia between 1900 and 1964. It explores the three factors that explain the tensions between the rural population and the Company: structural tensions between the peasant economy and the export sector; the relationship between peasants and wage‐labourers; and the effects of international market cycles on local conditions. In concluding, it questions the usefulness of typologies that, by positing a structural distinction between peasants and proletarians, neglect the historical dynamics of class formation.     

Can Outsiders Bring Democracy to Post-Conflict States?

Most interventions by outside forces to promote democracy in post-conflict states since WWII have failed. The most successful were in societies, such as Germany and Japan, featuring relatively high per capita GNP and diversified middle class economies. Among societies in general, prospects for democracy tend to diminish as per capita GNP decreases. The effects of conflict make democracy promotion considerably more difficult, particularly when poorer societies are plagued by weak institutions, corruption, religious extremism and ethnic, religious or factional animosities. Even if outsiders are able to control violence and actively promote democracy, success will depend on the underlying political culture and willingness of key political actors to play by democratic rules once the outsiders have gone. Hence, outsiders need to develop the best possible understanding of their prospects for success before committing to intervention, particularly when the resource demands are likely to be high.     

Die Einflussmöglichkeiten der Europäischen Kommission auf die europäische Politik

The means of the European Commission to influence European policies are being discussed predominantly with view to its agenda-setting powers. Institutionalist analyses have shown how the Commission can use agenda setting to bring to bear its own political preferences on the Council. With view to other Commission rights, in contrast, there have not been similar systematic analyses to show the Commission’s impact on European policies. In this article it is shown how the Commission can use its rights following from its role as a guardian of the Treaty and from competition law strategically. By simultaneously imposing threats on the Member States, the Commission can present its proposals to the Council as a “lesser evil”, pressurizing the Council into acceptance. The paper shows the scope and limits of this strategy and takes into consideration how other studies discussing the Commission’s powers fit into this framework of analysis.