Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book assesses contemporary Soviet domestic and foreign policy and surveys the traditions, challenges, and contexts within which the Soviet leadership is operating. It describes the legacy that Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev has inherited. Inherited commitments are a major force shaping the thrust and direction of a country’s foreign policy, and such commitments represent the constraints within which a leader must operate. Making judgments about Gorbachev’s foreign policy is especially necessary because of the vigorous Soviet effort to persuade the West of the forthcoming changes in Soviet foreign policy. In forming the wellsprings of Soviet policy, the general secretary is clearly constrained by historical commitments. The effect of the rethinking of Soviet perspectives during the Brezhnev period on the policies of the Gorbachev period is especially evident when assessing the challenge of technological modernization of the Soviet system.