What can Boris Yeltsin, or whoever comes after him, do to prevent anarchy from spreading?
Some things are definitely possible. More could be done to stop senior levels of corruption. And he could create laws. Russia is literally a country without law, with everything based on presidential decrees. Basic conflict-of-interest laws don’t exist. There are no privatization laws. So, there’s a small elite group that has political power, and that now means financial power because they control all the real estate. Things like that could change. Western media have run stories about a religious revival in Russia. There was a real void left with the collapse of communism. People are turning to religion to fill that void. There have been mass baptisms. American cults are there. Muslim cults are there. The Japanese Aum Shinri Kyo cult, which was involved in the poison gas attack in Tokyo, has a big following in Moscow. And builders have been working 24 hours a day to rebuild the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, which Stalin had destroyed. The cathedral is extremely decadent and lush. The
