Can be read here -->
http://www.lrb.co.uk/v34/n01/stephen-holmes/fragments-of-a-defunct-stateWhile I certainly can't say that I know enough to commit on the particulars of Russia to vouch for the accuracy of the article (that line about Russia being the most unequal in its history seems off considering, well, Russia's history), I do think it does have something more general to say about the way states are popularly imagined to run and operate versus the reality of that. I say this in consideration of the Arab Spring which was interesting in the way that at least in Egypt and Tunisia, a supposedly entrenched old order disappeared without even that a big of a fight.
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