Corruption threatens to strangle the new democracy of the former Soviet Union in its infancy. Glas- nost and perestroika have been replaced by naglost (brazen insolence) and perestrelka (shootouts). Whether order based on both freedom and responsibility can emerge from the rubble of collapsed com- munism is an open question. There is no rule of law, no clear definition of property rights, no genuine democracy or market economy for most of the newly freed peoples. Criminal elements have joined forces with the corrupt bureaucrats of the old guard to form networks of collusion. The old nomenklatura still have a chokehold on the country; they may have new business cards, but they are still in power.2 Corruption extends from the police through the courts, into the high- est levels of the present government, confirms Alexander Gurov, director of a security research institute at the Ministry of Security, formerly the KGB. "Before, the criminals tried to influence officials with bribes,&q