The New CommonWealth: From Bureaucratic Corporatism to Socialist Capitalism by Claudiu A. Secara, PhD, presents a sweeping view of economic and political history to suggest that as the United States and Russia evolve, the two are picking...

The New CommonWealth: From Bureaucratic Corporatism to Socialist Capitalism by Claudiu A. Secara, PhD, presents a sweeping view of economic and political history to suggest that as the United States and Russia evolve, the two are picking up more and more characteristics from each other.

This discussion is set against a deep backdrop starting with a detailed exploration of the concept of "commonwealth," particularly focusing on the perspectives of various thinkers throughout history including Thomas Hobbes, Sir Thomas More, and William Shakespeare. Hobbes defines a commonwealth as a collective agreement among individuals to form a sovereign power for their mutual protection and governance, highlighting the contrast between commonwealths formed through natural force and those established by mutual consent. He suggests that the latter represents a political commonwealth, while the former is characterized by acquisition through war or domination.

Sir Thomas More critiques contemporary commonwealths, describing them as conspiracies of the wealthy who exploit the poor under the guise of collective governance [[7]]. This critique reflects a sentiment of skepticism toward the motives of those in power and the structures of economic and political systems.

The book transitions into a broader discussion about the socio-economic and political dynamics in different historical contexts. In various chapters it delves into themes such as the historical context of centrally planned economies, the limitations of reform within these systems, and the life cycles of military-industrial economies. The author also touches on the global economic landscape, discussing the decline of the Soviet Union and the challenges faced by the United States in maintaining its leadership.

Dr. Secara emphasizes the evolution of industrial capitalism, exploring the relationship between economic models and political power. Having lived in Eastern Europe as well as the United States, his education and life experience make him well-positioned to critique the traditional centrally planned models and highlight the ambivalence surrounding reforms, as well as the failures of state markets to adapt to global competition. The book also articulates a vision of a “social market” where capitalism is redefined to incorporate social responsibilities, suggesting that the future economic landscape must balance competition with social considerations.

Key themes include a historical analysis of military economies and the impact of technological advancements on economic systems. The discussion also studies the shift toward managed trade and the role of international economic policies in shaping national strategies, particularly in the context of the United States and the former Soviet Union.

The conclusion hints at a future where the relationship between Eurasia and the United States will be crucial, as both navigate the complexities of a rapidly changing global order. Secara says the evidence suggests that the dynamics of power and economics will require renewed strategies and cooperation between nations to address emerging challenges, particularly from Asia.

Overall, the book provides a comprehensive examination of the interplay between political philosophy, economic theory, historical context, and contemporary challenges, advocating for a more integrated understanding of governance and economic management, particularly comparing the former Soviet Union and the United States.

According to the author, political elites play a crucial and often self-serving role in the transition from communism to market economies. He makes the provocative suggestion that the Soviet elite actively decided to dismantle the Soviet system and shift towards a form of capitalism, which the author describes as "Phase II of a highly successful perestroika." This indicates that the elite were not merely reacting to popular discontent but rather were instrumental in orchestrating the transition for their own interests.

The author argues that the collapse of the Soviet system was not just a failure of communism but a calculated move by the elite to move towards a new form of socialist capitalism, thereby compromising both the old communist orthodoxy and the emerging capitalist model. The elite had the political will and opportunity to reformulate their approach to governance and economic management without significant input from the general populace, who played a minor role in this transition.

Overall, the book infers that the political elite's motivations and decisions were pivotal in shaping the outcome of economic reforms and the integration into a market economy, which reflects a complex interplay of power dynamics within the collapsing communist framework.

This book is a comprehensive examination of the historical perspectives on capitalism and socialism, particularly in the context of Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union's transition from communism to capitalism. Here are some key points discussed:

1. **Historical Context of Economic Models**: The book emphasizes the importance of understanding the historical roots of both capitalism and socialism. It highlights that the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe was not just an internal failure but also a consequence of the international balance of power and the emergence of new economic blocs.

2. **Capitalism's Evolution**: The transformative nature of capitalism is examined, particularly how it has evolved from a closed national system to a more interconnected global system. Capitalism has historically been characterized by the privatization of the means of production and the pursuit of profit, which Marx critiqued as leading to social inequalities.

3. **Social Market Capitalism vs. Social Market Socialism**: The author differentiates between social market capitalism and social market socialism. While capitalism is often seen as focused on individualism and private ownership, socialism emphasizes collective ownership and egalitarian principles. The work suggests that a hybrid model, referred to as socialist capitalism, is emerging, which combines elements of both systems.

4. **Theoretical Underpinnings**: Marx's ideas about the contradictions inherent in capitalist systems, particularly regarding the relationship between labor and capital, are studied, with the principal critique of capitalism as being inherently exploitative, where profits are prioritized over wages, leading to class conflicts.

5. **Reforms and Outcomes**: The book also reviews past attempts to reform state markets, highlighting the difficulties faced in transitioning from centrally-planned economies to market-oriented systems. It argues that merely implementing free-market principles without addressing underlying inequalities leads to instability and social unrest.

6. **Global Comparisons**: The document draws comparisons between different national approaches to managing capitalism and socialism, noting that successful models often incorporate significant government intervention alongside market mechanisms. Countries like Germany and Japan are cited as examples of social market economies that have effectively combined elements of both systems.

In summary, this book by Claudiu Secara provides a nuanced view of the historical development of capitalism and socialism, explores their interrelationships, and discusses the implications of these systems in the context of modern economic challenges.

For anyone who has followed closely the events in Eastern Europe for the past thirty years, the systematic absence of one possible scenario from the mainstream media dialog is baffling namely that today's Russian troubles may be only a shield behind which a more powerful regeneration is in progress. The New York Times Magazine, August 10, 1997, brings up one of many questions to which modern history awaits a convincing answer. On the occasion of former Defense Secretary McNamara's revisiting Vietnam, it reminds us of one such unelucidated inconsistency: "If the reason [for the war in Vietnam] was to fight communism, why did the U.S. not help China in 1949, or why did the U.S. not help the Batista regime in Cuba in 1959?"

There are indeed significant and puzzling inconsistencies in the story of the Soviet Union's "collapse." Consider the artfulness, bordering on the Machiavellian, and the lengthy effort that went into its demise and one has sufficient grounds for a different tale. The process of "collapse," basically from 1983 on, came about as the country's establishment applied blow after blow to the highly coherent and resilient Soviet system.

The most intriguing aspect of this incredible series of events is that behind it was the political will of the elite the Soviet elite who had decided that the Soviet system must be dismembered, while the so-called disgruntled masses played a minor role. That amounts, but only on a superficial look, to the impression that the elite itself might have voluntarily decided to dismantle and demobilize its own lines of defense and submit to a condition of servitude to the rest of the world.

On the contrary, I am not only in agreement with Weir and Kotz and others who ascribe perestroika and the collapse of the Soviet system to the Soviet elite, but I suggest that today's troubles are not a result of a failed perestroika but are only Phase II of perestroika.

From socialism to capitalism and back to a superior form of socialism is how the old Marxist dialecticians would phrase it. By compromising both models the old communist orthodoxy as well as the newer aspirant, casino capitalism the power establishment makes it possible to bring the country safely back to socialist capitalism. But if one accepts this hypothesis, then it becomes the premise of an unsettling line of reasoning.

The elite of the second most powerful corporation in the world, the Soviet Union, must have had a self-serving reason to take such risks and must as well have had the opportunity to reformulate its modus operandi. If this is so, the further implication would be that the "collapse" was possible not in reaction to a stronger U.S. but precisely because the other superpower also showed every sign of weakness and crisis so that it could not mount any credible offensive, economically or militarily, while the Soviet Union went through its own version of the Great Depression en route toward economic restructuring and political modernization.

The most plausible interpretation of the series of international issues of the 1980s (the new economic assertiveness of Western Europe and Japan, the war in Afghanistan, the Iran-Iraq craze, the Solidarity movement in Poland, the world debt crisis, etc.) is that they were already setting the framework for a future covenant "the new world order" between the former superpowers, to their mutual advantage.

That presupposes an early, even pre-1980, agreed armistice and rethinking of the exhausting confrontation. If Russia was in a position to let down its guard to the extent that we are witnessing today, it was only because it found itself not in a weak position but in the strongest military-strategic position in its history, free from imminent outside threat as enshrined at Helsinki in the 1975 Final Act of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe. Given its control of the world's richest reserves of oil, gas, nuclear material, and raw materials, together with its educated professionals, an unmatched nuclear arsenal*, space technology leadership, etc. all Russia needed was to repackage its system as a benevolent system, to make it into a soothing and attractive social and economic model, to launch a successful public relations scheme. To succeed at that would be worth the costs and the risks!

From such a strategic viewpoint one may infer that the dismantling of the Soviet Union was only the first step of the former Soviet elite's new policy of Soviet "market" outreach to the West as well as to the South. In the west, Western Europe today seems at its zenith, however, its fate may well have been determined by (1) its military emasculation (by the Treaty of European Conventional Arms Reduction, the 1988 Soviet-U.S. Intermediate Nuclear Forces agreement and START II) and (2) its dependency on Russian controlled oil and gas. In the south, oil producing Iran and Iraq, isolated by United States' Middle East diplomacy, are quietly and slowly sliding further into the deadly embrace of the northern bear.**

The centuries long Russian-Anglo-American love-hate relationship has been evolving dramatically from late 1978 until today, for sure. However, one might notice that it is being redesigned in such a way as to accommodate in the long run a more assertive, more successful and more powerful Russia overlording its European and southern peripheries. A first sketch of such an analysis I presented in 1992 at the ISA conference in Atlanta. For a more detailed analysis of the historical background, of the economic, military and political circumstances of such a probable scenario, you are invited to read the following pages.

Chapter I. The Social Market Chapter V. The Global Economic Scene Social Market Capitalism The Soviet Union's Dramatic Decline The Accounting Nature of Capitalism The United States' Deter

Chapter I. The Social Market Chapter V. The Global Economic Scene Social Market Capitalism The Soviet Union's Dramatic Decline The Accounting Nature of Capitalism The United States' Deteriorating Leadership Closed vs. Open Capitalist System The Question of Labor Shortages in the Modern Economy Individualistic vs. Communitarian Capitalism Russian-Style Industrialization Forms of Socialized Capitalism The Russian Agricultural Revolution The Profit Motive More Labor through Service Automation Social Capitalism Reinventing the Feudal Work System The Social Market Commonwealth The Industrial Technocracy Chapter II. The Historical Context The Historical Curve toward Global Market Socialism The International Power Market Chapter VI. Pitfalls of a Competitive Market The German Way The Market Economy and Privatization The American Way "Free Market" without Markets The Russian Way Growing Transatlantic Trade Disputes The Interconnected World System European Investments vs. American Investments The Mediterranean Ecosystem Similarites in the Former Comecon Countries' Reforms European Inland Farming Playing the Market along with the Socialist Nomenklatura The Affluent Farming Societies Playing Socialism at the Stock Market The Emergence of the Military-Industrial Corporation The Concept of Managed Markets The Anglo-Saxons and the Slavs Chapter VII. The Invisible Revolution The Battle over Europe Ownership Distribution in the United States The Balkanization of the World Employee Stock Ownership Programs Chapter III. The Economic Models Question In Pursuit of an Industrial Policy with a Capitalist Face The Interventionist Philosophy A Historical Framework The Traditional Centrally Planned Model The French Auto Industry's Experience To Reform or Not to Reform The Japanese Semiconductor Industry's Experience Internal Factors of Decline The German Steel Industry's Experience External Factors of Decline The United States' Experience In Pursuit of Socialism with a Human Face Chapter VIII. The Making of Eurasia Reforms and Their Results Convergence within Europe Motivation vs. Management The Thaw, Finally The Ambiguities of Decentralization Events within Regularities the Cycle of History Market Competition under Central Planning The Aristotelianism of Global Politics International Markets National Competition Soft vs. Hard Style Management Managed Social Markets Hypothesizing on the Future Chapter IV. Life Cycle of the Cold War Industries Intelligentsia in Power The American Pursuit of a Military Economy The Air Industry The Air Industry's Support Industry The Militarized Economy of the Soviet Union D tente

Romanian Language Translation INTRODUCERE CAPITOLUL I. PIAÃ??Ã?¡A SOCIALÃ??' Capitalismul Social de PiaÃ??'ºÃ??Ã?? Natura ContabilÃ??Ã?? a Capitalismului Sistemul Capitalist nchis versus celui Deschis Capitalism Individualist versus Capitalism Comunitar Forme ale Capitalismului Socializat Motivul Profitului Capitalism Social Commonwealth-ul PieÃ??'ºei Sociale CAPITOLUL II. CONTEXTUL ISTORIC PiaÃ??'ºa Puterii InternaÃ??'ºionale Modalitatea...

Romanian Language Translation INTRODUCERE CAPITOLUL I. PIAÃ??Ã?¡A SOCIALÃ??' Capitalismul Social de PiaÃ??'ºÃ??Ã?? Natura ContabilÃ??Ã?? a Capitalismului Sistemul Capitalist nchis versus celui Deschis Capitalism Individualist versus Capitalism Comunitar Forme ale Capitalismului Socializat Motivul Profitului Capitalism Social Commonwealth-ul PieÃ??'ºei Sociale CAPITOLUL II. CONTEXTUL ISTORIC PiaÃ??'ºa Puterii InternaÃ??'ºionale Modalitatea GermanÃ??Ã?? Modalitatea AmericanÃ??Ã?? Modalitatea RuseascÃ??Ã?? Sistemul Mondial Interconexat Ecosistemul Mediteranean Agricultura EuropeanÃ??Ã?? InternÃ??Ã?? SocietÃ??Ã??Ã??'ºile Agricole mbelÃ??'¢ugate ApariÃ??'ºia CorporaÃ??'ºiilor Militare Industriale Anglo-Saxonii Ã??'¢i Slavii BÃ??Ã??tÃ??Ã??lia asupra Europei Balcanizarea Lumii CAPITOLUL III. PROBLEMA MODELELOR ECONOMICE Filozofia IntervenÃ??'ºionismului Modelul TradiÃ??'ºional de Planificare CentralizatÃ??Ã?? A Reforma sau a Nu Reforma? Factorii Interni ai Declinului Factori Externi ai Declinului n CÃ??Ã??utarea Capitalismului cu FaÃ??'ºÃ??Ã?? UmanÃ??Ã?? Reformele Ã??'¢i Rezultatele Acestora MotivaÃ??'ºie versus Management Ambiguit Ã??'º ile "DescentralizÃ??Ã??rii" ConcurenÃ??'ºa de PiaÃ??'ºÃ??Ã?? n Cadrul PlanificÃ??Ã??rii Centralizate PieÃ??'ºe InternaÃ??'ºionale n Timpul ConcurenÃ??'ºei ntre NaÃ??'ºiuni PieÃ??'ºe Sociale Conduse 124 CAPITOLUL IV. CARACTERUL CICLIC AL INDUSTRIILOR N TIMPUL RÃ??'ZBOIULUI RECE 129 Preocuparea AmericanÃ??Ã?? pentru o Economie MilitarÃ??Ã?? 134 Industria AeronauticÃ??Ã?? 141 Industria de Spijin a Industriei Aviatice 145 Economia MilitarizatÃ??Ã?? a Uniunii Sovietice 150 DetentÃ??Ã?? 166 CAPITOLUL V. SCENA ECONOMICÃ??' GLOBALÃ??' 177 Declinul Dramatic al Uniunii Sovietice 177 Deteriorarea SupremaÃ??'ºiei Statelor Unite 188 Problema Crizei Muncii in Economia ModernÃ??Ã?? 181 Industrializarea in Stil Rusesc 185 RevoluÃ??'ºia AgricolÃ??Ã?? sin Rusia 190 Mai MultÃ??Ã?? MuncÃ??Ã?? prin Automatizare 194 Reinventarea Sistemului de Lucru Feudal 197 TehnocraÃ??'ºia IndustrialÃ??Ã?? 200 Curba IstoricÃ??Ã?? a Socialismului PieÃ??'ºei Mondiale 204 CAPITOLUL VI. CAPCANELE PIEÃ??Ã?¡EI CONCURENÃ??Ã?¡IONALE 209 Economia de PiaÃ??'ºÃ??Ã?? Ã??'¢i Privatizarea 210 "PiaÃ??'ºa LiberÃ??Ã??" fÃ??Ã??rÃ??Ã?? PieÃ??'ºe 212 Intensificarea Disputelor Comerciale Trans-Atlantice 213 InvestiÃ??'ºii Europene versus InvestiÃ??'ºii Americane 214 Similitudini n Reformele Fostelor Ã??Ã?¡Ã??Ã??ri ale Comecomului 214 Jocul de-a PiaÃ??'ºa n Timpul Nomenclaturii Socialiste 216 Socialismul Jucat la BursÃ??Ã?? 220 Conceptul de PieÃ??'ºe Dirijate 224 CAPITOLUL VII - REVOLUÃ??Ã?¡IA INVIZIBILÃ??' 233 Redistribuirea ProprietÃ??Ã??Ã??'ºii n Statele Unite 233 Programul DeÃ??'ºinerii AcÃ??'ºiunilor de cÃ??Ã??tre AngajaÃ??'ºi 239 n CÃ??Ã??utarea Politicii Industriale cu FaÃ??'ºÃ??Ã?? CapitalistÃ??Ã?? 244 Cadru Istoric 245 ExperienÃ??'ºa Industriei Automobilelor Franceze 250 ExperienÃ??'ºa Industriei Japoneze a Semiconductorilor 252 ExperienÃ??'ºa Industriei Germane a OÃ??'ºelului 255 ExperienÃ??'ºa Statelor Unite 257 CAPITOLUL VIII - CONSTITUIREA EURASIEI 259 ConvergenÃ??'ºa n Cadrul Europei 259 DezgheÃ??'ºul, n Final 264 Evenimente n Continuitate - Ciclurile n Istorie 268 Aristotelismul Politicilor Globale 269 Stilul de Management Soft versus Hard 271 Ipoteze Asupra Viitorului 272 InteligenÃ??'ºia la Putere 273 NaÃ??'¢terea Euroslaviei 276