The Moscow Meltdown: Causes And Consequences Of The Financial-Political Crisis In Russia

TORONTO, October 15, 1998 -- Line-ups for bread, unpaid workers, empty shop shelves, an ailing president, Lenin banners in the streets -- this is not Communist Soviet Union -- this is modern-day-Russia, and it's spiralling out of control. To examine the current Russian political and economic crisis, York University will host a lecture event entitled: The Moscow Meltdown: Causes and Consequences of the Financial-Political Crisis in Russia, Tuesday, Oct. 20.

Presented by the York Centre for International and Security Studies and the Post-Communist Studies Programme, lecture participants will shed light on Russia's political and economic turmoil in the post-Cold War period. The following experts will offer their unique insights into what has gone wrong and offer their prognoses for Russia's future.

Piotr Dutkiewicz is a political science professor at Carleton University and Deputy Director, Institute for Central/East European and Russian Area Studies. He will assess the impact of the crisis on Eastern Europe.

Henryk Flakierski, a professor in the Division of Social Science and the Department of Economics at York University, will focus on the state and prospects of the Russian economy.

Robert Johnson is a History Professor and Director, Centre for Russian and East European Studies at the University of Toronto. Johnson will address the crisis in a broader historical perspective.

Jonathan Nitzan, a political science professor at York University, will discuss Russian developments in the context of global economic trends.

Sergei Plekhanov is a political science professor and Coordinator of the Post-Communist Studies Programme at York University. Plekhanov will discuss the ongoing Russian crisis as the logical outcome of reforms launched under Boris Yeltsin's leadership seven years ago.

Orest Subtelny, a professor of history and political science at York University, will address the impact of Russian events on Ukraine and other post-Soviet states.

WHEN:
Tuesday, Oct. 20, 1998
2:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.

WHERE:
Room 305, York Lanes
York University
4700 Keele Street

-30-

For more information, please contact:

Sergei Plekhanov
Centre for International & Security Studies
York University
(416) 736-5156

Sine MacKinnon
Senior Advisor, Media Relations
York University
(416) 736-2100, ext. 22087

Ken Turriff
Media Relations Officer
York University
(416) 736-2100, ext. 22086
YU/070/98