過去在拉丁美洲、東歐和前蘇聯都發生過區域性的經濟危機，從 1997 年開始東 亞又產生了金融危機，波及了大多數區域內的國家。面對此種經濟困局，各國的新興民主政 府都被迫掙扎於國際金融組織依據新古典主義所開出的紓困條件，和本國社會反抗此種強制 性經濟改革的政治壓力之間，產生了左右搖擺的現象。本文先討論了最近一波國際金融危機 的成因，而後以俄羅斯為例, 分析葉爾欽政府如何在西方國家與國際貨幣基金會的外在壓力 ，和由共黨與民族主義政黨所掌握的杜馬國會之間，進行艱難經濟改革的過程。內外的雙重 壓力使得葉爾欽政府在市場化和私有化政策上都產生了搖擺妥協的現象，造成了無效率的企 業，從而使得稅收不足，政府的財政面臨危機，而借貸大增，對於國際投資人的依賴也就不 斷攀高。此時國際金融危機出現，俄羅斯作為新興市場經濟之一，不免受到波及，從而引發 了債市崩盤，盧布暴跌，政府乃被迫管制匯市，形成了俄羅斯的金融危機。

　　　　　Regional economic crisis struck Latin America and the former Soviet bloc in the past. Now it engulfed East Asia. Faced with this kind of crisis, most nascent democracies had to navigate between neo-classical rescue packages imposed by the international financial organizations and the domestic political reaction to involuntary economic reform. This article first delineates the various theoretical approaches to the surge of the current financial crisis originating in East Asia, and then explores the causes of the Russian economic meltdown. It analyzes the painful process in which the Yeltsin government navigated between the IMF and the State Duma. Cross pressure caused policy fluctuations and compromises that resulted in inefficient enterprises and serious tax shortage. The government thus faced a financial crisis and had to rely heavily on international investors. The untimely strike of the Asian financial crisis on Russia touched off a chain reaction and caused collapse of the bond market. The government was forced to impose strict controls on the currency market and the Russian economy was plunged into a crisis.