Bolshevik Revolution: Class Struggle or Russia’s Quest to Catch Up with the West

Early in the 18 th century Czar Peter of Russia became the first non-Western sovereign to initiate a program of modernization. The ambivalence of Russians towards the West attracted them to Marxism – an ideology which both eulogized and criticized industrial progress of Europe. Lenin and Stalin used state power to modernize and industrialize USSR. Failure to reform after the catch up phase led to decline and ultimate disintegration. Russia today is only one quarter as wealthy as the OECD countries. Three centuries after Peter, Russia has still not reached the end of its quest to catch up with the West.

About the speaker

Academic Qualifications
Master in Public Administration – Harvard (1996-98)
Master in International Relations – Japan (1989-91)
BS Mech. Engineering – UT Austin (1983-86)

Work Experience
Financial and Private Sector – World Bank, Washington, DC
International Dept. – Industrial Bank of Japan, Tokyo
Middle East Business Dept. – Sony Corp., Tokyo
Engineering Dept. – ICI Pakistan, Ltd.

Syed Sardar Ali did his F.Sc. from Govt. College Lahore and Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin.  He earned his first master’s degree in International Relations from Japan and worked for Sony Corporation and the Industrial Bank of Japan in Tokyo. He later earned Master in Public Administration (MPA) from Harvard where he was a student of Prof. Samuel Huntington. Upon graduation he joined the World Bank in Washington, DC and worked in the Financial and Private Sector Unit in the Europe and Central Asia region until 2002. Sardar Ali, who runs a number of businesses in Islamabad and Lahore, is the Chairperson of Crescent Foundation. He has one daughter and three sons.