The author of the article (researcher, Institute of Peace, USA, and University of Toronto, Canada) undertakes to offer an explanation of Russia’s lack of fortune, particularly striking in comparison to relative success of the East - Central European countries. Is Russia’s newly found openness to the West, the author asks, to be blamed for the crisis? He, first of all, considers the concept of globalization and various aspects of globalization processes, as they relate to the present-day world of nation states. He, then, assesses the notion of the world culture and its significance for developments after the end of communism. And, finally, he analyzes specifics of post-communist transition in Russia. The author demonstrates in the long run that it is the domestic factors, the bad and selfish politics of Russian ruling groups that are, rather than globalization processes, responsible for the misfortune of liberalization in Russia. In this connection he points also to the fact that the foreign involvement in Russian economy is much less significant as compared to the post-communist states of East and Central Europe.