Soviet Foreign Policy in Transition

The late twentieth century witnessed remarkable changes in Soviet domestic and foreign policy.

Roger E. Kanet (Edited by), Deborah N. Miner (Edited by), Tamara J. Resler (Edited by)

9780521413657, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 2 April 1992

328 pages
23.6 x 15.8 x 3 cm, 0.555 kg

The late twentieth century witnessed remarkable changes in Soviet domestic and foreign policy. Eastern Europe sprang free of the country that held it in its grip for over forty years. The Soviet leadership has accepted the reunification of Germany and supported the US-sponsored resolution in the UN permitting the use of force in the Gulf against one of its former allies. Moreover, the leadership's quest for stability during a time of rapid technological, economic and political change seriously weakened the position of the Soviet Union on the international scene. This volume assesses those dramatic changes. It chronicles the debate within the Soviet Union over the success and validity of perestroika and the 'new thinking' on foreign affairs, the policy alternatives supported by various groups within the elite and their likely impact on future policies.

List of tables
Preface
Introduction
Part I. The Soviet Union and the International Political System: 1. Soviet reform in international perspective
Part II. The Soviet Union And Europe: 2. The changing Soviet-East European relationship
3. Soviet-Nordic relations in the era of perestroika and new thinking
4. Soviet signals to the mordic countries during the Lithuanian crisis of 1990
5. Neutrality and new thinking
Part III. The Soviet Union and the Developing World: Global Trends: 6. From new thinking to the fragmentation of consensus in Soviet foreign policy: the USSR and the developing world
7. Soviet new thinking on national liberation movements: continuity and change
Part IV. The Soviet Union and the Developing World: Regional and Country Case Studies: 8. Soviet policy in Central America during the Gorbachev period
9. The Soviet reassessment of socialist orientation and the African response
10. Soviet policy in the Middle East: Gorbachev's imprint
11. The implications of perestroika for the Third World, particularly Asia
12. The Soviet Union and Indochina
13. Gorbachev's Southeast Asia policy: new thinking for a new era?
14. The impact of Gorbachev's new thinking on Soviet policy toward South Korea
Part V. Conclusion: 15. The paradox in new political thinking in Soviet foreign policy
Index.

Subject Areas: International relations [JPS]