Written by a long-time specialist on the problem of human rights in the Soviet Union, this is basically an optimistic assessment of how far many of the post-Soviet states have come in setting the footings for democratic forms in which human rights will be more secure. Juviler is scarcely naive about the failings to this point, and he devotes an entire section of the book to states that have veered down the authoritarian path. He also does not neglect the many inauspicious (mis)steps by the Balts, Ukrainians, Moldovans, Russians, and others normally thought of as in the forefront of the slow movement toward democracy.