Proud Russia on its knees.

Describes the economic and political state of Russia in February 1999. Citizens' bitter nostalgia about the Soviet Union; Decline in life expectancy; Illnesses and food supply; Economic conditions worse than the Great Depression; Collapsing infrastructure; Inflation and unemployment; Visit by United States Secretary of State Madeleine Albright; Failure of capitalism; Hardening divisions in society; Stages in privatization; Bank failures.