RUSSIA'96: THE PEOPLE CHOOSE

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Yet it is surely true that with Yeltsin, the space for democracy and market reform that is growing fitfully almost everywhere in Russia will have a better chance of succeeding peacefully and more quickly than if Zyuganov takes power. For besides his economic changes, Yeltsin's true legacy thus far has been his acquiescence in the decentralization of power. "It has shifted dramatically downward from the Kremlin and outward from Moscow," says Strobe Talbott. The result is that Russia is fast becoming a pluralistic nation, but it has yet to make the transition to a civil society.

If, in the short run, only a fool would be optimistic about Russia's course, the eventual outcome seems favorable. As Gorbachev says, "Only the old are truly Communists now. When the young take over, communism will finally die, and democracy will take firm root." So while few deny that a period of repressive score settling would attend a Communist victory, the grass that is already growing through the cracks will continue to do so in any event. It is right to view this election as among the most pivotal in history. The question, though, is no longer whether Russia's future will arrive, but when it will--and, if the Communists re-emerge, exactly how many innocents will have to suffer needlessly until it does.

--With reporting by Sally B. Donnelly, John Kohan and Yuri Zarakhovich/Moscow and Dean Fischer/Washington