ABSTRACT
At the time of the Cold War the course of events was essentially determined by the United States and the Soviet Union, with the European nations trying more or less successfully to have their interests taken adequately into account. Therefore it seemed reasonable to study next the mutual perceptions that can be identified among the political leadership and the public of the two leading powers. Without mutual trust it will hardly be possible to deal satisfactorily with the tasks that will have to be carried out for the creation of a new, stable and acceptable European order. The present openness of the Soviet Union toward the West was described as a structural phenomenon and attributable to changes in Soviet perceptions of capitalism, East-West relations and of the role of military power in world politics. The relative weights of perceptions do change.
