Acknowledgments
Work on this book required two and one-half years and the assistance,
ideas, and support of many colleagues; many, though not all, of their
names appear throughout the text. I am particularly indebted to friends
in the former Soviet Union who graciously shared their work, their offices, and their homes with me, especially those at Moscow’s Institute of
Geography and the Social-Ecological Union. Many people reviewed the
manuscript in various stages of completion, helping me to refine the text:
Special thanks go to John Richmond, Rebecca Ritke, Jeri O’Donnell, Cara
Gilbert, Alyssa Peterson, Kristen Suokko, Craig ZumBrunnen, Ida May
B. Norton, and Judith Westbury. Eric Green, a key player in Moscow’s international environmental community and a close friend, deserves much
more than a mention for allowing me to borrow ideas from his earlier
work on Soviet environmental affairs and for offering valuable assistance—including extended lodging—which greatly facilitated much of
my research in the former Soviet Union. Naturally, I assume sole liability
for any misrepresentations that may exist.
Some of the material presented in this book first appeared in a series
of articles published in Radio Liberty’s Report on the USSR between 1989
and 1992. I thank Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Inc. for permitting
me to include this material here. Grants from the RAND/UCLA Center
for Soviet Studies and the Center for International Research at the University of California, Los Angeles, allowed me to travel to the former Soviet Union to conduct field research. The completion of my research for
and publication of this book was made possible by the generous financial
support of RAND and with the personal commitment of Vice President
Wally Baer and the director of the International Policy Department,
Jonathan Pollack. The professional guidance, long hours, and unalloyed
enthusiasm put forth by Cindy Kumagawa of RAND’s Commercial Book
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Acknowledgments
Program immensely simplified and leavened the overwhelming process
of putting my first book together. Rod Sato of RAND’s Publications Department created the beautiful graphics presented in the text and accommodated my constant revisions. The design of the book is the work
of another dear friend—Scott Ford. Again, thanks go to all. Finally, this
book is dedicated to Alyssa Peterson, whose mixture of sisterly admonitions and unflagging encouragement kept me on track through the ups
and downs.
DJ Peterson