ABSTRACT
This chapter outlines some of the political changes that have taken place in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, and provides a discussion of their influence on the view of neutrality in these countries. A new type of political transformation has been under way in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe since the fall of 1989. In certain countries, economic stagnation and political liberalization go hand in hand with a reassessment of political history. Bulgaria has adopted a low-profile policy. It quite eagerly introduced economic changes after 1985 but hesitated to include political reforms. In the interwar period, US politicians preferred voluntary isolationism in international relations, whereas Stalin, in 1924, felt the future of the world lay in a combination of the Soviet dedication to the construction of socialism and the US spirit of entrepreneurship. Political changes in the Soviet Union seem real, and the majority of East European countries are likely to follow the same line.
