Understanding Soviet Foreign Policy. The Tradition of Change in Soviet Foreign Policy. Two Schools of Soviet Diplomacy

Abstract

In four years as leaders of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev has introduced radical changes in the theory and practices of Soviet foreign policy. In his self-proclaimed 'new political thinking,' he has down-played the importance of class struggle in international relations, emphasized 'mutual security' and the role of politics in resolving disputes, and stressed the interdependent nature of the contemporary world. He has called for common efforts to solve such problems as debt, hunger, pollution and above all disarmament. the Soviets have also invoked new political thinking to explain a series of surprising policy moves, including the withdrawal of forces from Afghanistan the acceptance of on-site inspection in the 1986 Conference Disarmament in Europe (CDE) and the 1987 Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces (INF) agreements, and the payment of UN dues long in arrears

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Apr 01, 1990
Accession Number
ADA271580

Entities

People

  • John Van Oudenaren

Organizations

  • National Defense University

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Counter WMD
  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Agreements
  • Arms Control
  • Cold War
  • Communism
  • Diplomacy
  • Doctrine
  • East West Relations
  • Foreign Policy
  • Intergovernmental Organizations
  • International Organizations
  • International Relations
  • National Politics
  • Nuclear Bombs
  • Recreation
  • Treaties
  • United States
  • Ussr

Fields of Study

  • Political science

Readers

  • East Asian Political and Security Studies within the Soviet Union
  • European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP).
  • Theoretical Analysis.