{"product_id":"9780989517812","title":"Vodka Diplomacy: And Other Adventures and Lessons in the New Russia","description":"1994 - Moscow \u003cp\u003eArmed with an excellent education, naïve optimism, and raw enthusiasm, a young woman takes her first steps from studying the theory of economic reform in the former Soviet Union to the reality of attempting to shape it.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFrom the back cover:\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eEvery generation of university graduates believes they are going to change the world. My classmates and I took things one step further and really tried. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe Soviet Union had collapsed in late 1991. The future was not yet written. There were no correct answers. Anything could happen. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOn this raw new frontier, anyone in academia or politics or business who tried to posture as an \"expert\" was really just guessing as best as they could. My classmates and I who studied Russian language and economics found ourselves graduating at the precise moment in history when these skills were highly valued. I leaped into the thick of the post-Soviet era, delirious with naïve optimism, a thirst for adventure, and a mission to make a difference. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eVodka Diplomacy is my story of what happened next.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Phaedra Fisher","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49787394916592,"sku":"9780989517812","price":15.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9780989517812","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}