The Role of the CPSU International Department in Soviet Foreign Relations and National Security Policy*

This chapter highlights some of the changes by examining the role of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union International Department and its relationship with the Soviet Foreign Ministry. Much of the economic and military aid that the Soviet Union provided to Third World clients, especially the money transferred to local Communist parties, passed directly through the International Department. The chapter discusses the evolution of the International Department (ID) before Mikhail Gorbachev came to power, and provides a basis for appreciating the significance of recent shifts in the ID's role. It looks at the period from 1985 to early 1990, with particular emphasis on the sweeping 'restructuring' of the Soviet foreign policy bureaucracy that occurred during the two-and-a-half years that Anatolii Dobrynin served as head of the International Department, from March 1986 to September 1988. Sweeping replacements of personnel and extensive organisational restructuring have greatly altered the process of foreign policy making.