Russia and Ukraine are struggling to change over from command to market economies. Both are heirs to protectionist policies that for years supported the weight of a mammoth military-industrial complex. This book investigates the defense sector's key role in the economies of these two countries, its fate in relation to political changes, and its impact on those same changes.

What sets this book apart from other analyses is that the contributors are mostly Russians and Ukrainians, rather than Westerners. As respected officials from government, the military, and the scholarly community, the contributors have first-hand knowledge of economic life in their respective countries.

The reader will discover more dissent than consensus among the authors in their debates of Russian and Ukrainian economic policy and security issues. However, above the din of argument, the editors promote a stance of "limited optimism" toward the economies of the two republics.

Although signs of poor economic health are evident, the gloomy forecasts made by some analysts today may be biased by overly optimistic accounts from the past and by data that fails to consider recent gains in the private sector.