The Netherlands <span>originally settled the colony that would later become known as New York.</span>
When then-President Boris Yeltsin stood on a tank in 1991, waving a fist in defiance of communist hard-liners, he heralded a new dawn for Russia.The Soviet Union collapsed months later, promising to usher in a new era of Western-style democracy. But at the end of Yeltsin's rule, eight years later, democracy had become a dirty word for most Russians.President Vladimir Putin often is praised for bringing an end to what some see as a reign of lawlessness and corruption under Yeltsin, his predecessor. But not everyone agrees. Some officials who ran the government under Yeltsin say Putin has put an end to a period of positive change.
