ABSTRACT
A Soviet leader considers that proposition to be a self-evident truth: detente is a policy, while the class struggle is an objective phenomenon in the historical process that cannot be abolished by policy decision, even if the Soviet leaders wanted to do so. Russian intellectual history has proved infertile ground for any philosophy arguing skepticism or mankind's limited ability to comprehend reality fully. In Soviet society, power produces access to wealth, or to whatever other good—influence, and status—is desired. Before summarizing the elements of ideology and political culture that affect Soviet negotiating behavior, a couple of general points should be made about the present impact of long-established patterns in Russian society. The Soviet Union has throughout its history been a society of scarcity, both of material items and of the other things people find desirable. Dialectics is incorporated everywhere, even in science courses, as a way of solving problems.
