Russia's Food Policy and Globalization

by Stephen K. Wegren Southern Methodist University

Overview

The post-Soviet period has witnessed Russia's increasing interdependence with other nations in its food trade, as in the economy as a whole. President Putin has repeatedly identified international integration as an economic necessity if Russia is to share in the benefits of globalization. In Russia's Food Policies and Globalization, author Stephen K. Wegren analyzes the primary questions affecting Russia and globalization. How do Russia's domestic and external food policies affect its efforts at international integration? How prepared is Russia for global economic integration, for instance, entrance into the World Trade Organization? What are the structural, economic, and political obstacles that exist in Russia's food policies which in turn hinder closer integration? In short, will Russia integrate or fall behind, and what is the role of food policy in deciding this crucial issue? Through an analysis of Russia's contemporary food policies and strategies, Wegren places Russia's economic development in a new international context. Political scientists, economists, policymakers, and scholars of the Soviet and post-Soviet period, as well as those interested in rural studies, must read this book.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780739106877
Publisher:	Lexington Books
Publication date:	12/10/2004
Series:	Rural Economies in Transition
Edition description:	Dual Edition
Pages:	216
Product dimensions:	6.16(w) x 9.20(h) x 0.73(d)

About the Author

Stephen K. Wegren is associate professor of political science, Southern Methodist University

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 Food Production and Consumption, 1980-2002 Chapter 2 Food Policies and Food Trade in the Soviet Period Chapter 3 Domestic Food Policies in the Post-Soviet Period Chapter 4 Domestic Food Trade in the Post-Soviet Period Chapter 5 External Food Policies and Food Trade in the Post-Soviet Period Chapter 6 Conclusion: Russia's Food Policies and Globalization

Editorial Reviews

Agrarian economic and political policies represent the neglected stepchild of transition studies. Russia's Food Policies and Globalization is a tour de force of the late Soviet and post-Soviet eras. Only a scholar of Stephen Wegren's broad background in the field could even attempt such a survey. It will be well-received by specialists on Soviet and Russian affairs. Wegren reminds me of the late great Lazar Volin in the scope and quality of his work on rural communities.

James R. Millar

Professor Wegren's book is not only a comprehensive analysis of the roots of contemporary Russian food policy, it is extraordinarily timely, coming on the eve of Russia's accession to the World Trade Organization. He documents the decline of economic liberalism and return of protectionism in Russia, and thereby gives the West fair warning about Russian agriculture's intentions with regard to integration into the world's food economy.

Allan Mustard