It would be interesting to read what Noam Chomsky has to say on this subject. I reccomend his "Middle East Illusions", Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, ISBN 0-7425-2699-2. I think it's quite brilliant and could be a reasonable way to go.

I have personally talked to Pete about Stalin and the early days of Boshevism. There was a lot of idealism that was inevitably shattered by Stalin's atrocities and the system in the USSR was corrupted
beyond repair. This is pretty much Pete's thinking on the subject now when last we talked of it.

Frank