1st Edition

The Domestic Context Of Soviet Foreign Policy

By Seweryn Bialer Copyright 1981

    This collective volume highlights those aspects of Soviet internal dynamics that influence foreign policy and international relationships. The authors almost uniformly reflect a growing awareness of the importance of internal factors as a critical determinant shaping not only the Soviet Union’s position in the international arena, but also the making and effectiveness of Soviet foreign policy. A central premise of this volume is that both the range of options in Soviet foreign policymaking and the predispositions among the policymakers toward the selection of particular options are influenced and circumscribed by the dynamics of Soviet social, economic, and political development.

    Preface -- Culture and Ideology -- Russian Nationalism -- Ideological Development and Foreign Policy -- Consensus Versus Conflict: The Dimension of Foreign Policy -- Politics and Society -- The Pattern of Leadership Politics -- The Impact of the Military on Soviet Society -- The “Nationality Problem” in the USSR: Domestic Pressures and Foreign Policy Constraints -- Mass Expectations and Regime Performance -- Economics -- Soviet Economic Development, Technological Transfer, and Foreign Policy -- Demographic Trends and Soviet Foreign Policy: The Underlying Imperatives of Labor Supply -- Soviet Economic Growth and Foreign Policy -- Soviet Agriculture: Domestic and Foreign Policy Aspects -- Eastern Europe -- The Economies of Eastern Europe and Soviet Foreign Policy -- Eastern Europe as an Internal Determinant of Soviet Foreign Policy -- Domestic Context: An Overview -- The Domestic Sources of Soviet Foreign Policy -- Soviet Foreign Policy: Sources, Perceptions, Trends

    Biography

    Seweryn Bialer is a professor of political science and director of the Research Institute on International Change at Columbia University. He is a specialist in Soviet domestic politics, with emphasis on contemporary Soviet elites. His publications include Stalin and His Generals: Soviet Military Memoirs of World War II and Stalin’s Successors: Leadership, Stability, and Change in the Soviet Union.