JPC Executive Director Matt Brooks says, “Since the collapse of the Soviet Union and the demise of communism in 1991, we in the West have generally considered Russia a ‘normal’ country. But Russia evolved from a different place to a different place. Without a merchant class, protected property rights, and the habit of law protecting the people from the government, the idea of Russia creating a 21st century Western-style capitalist state in a matter of decades is as odd as imagining creating one in Iraq.”