ABSTRACT
The connections between the Soviet political economy, the presence of counterculture, and the tensions within the Soviet system, which contributed to the prevalent social ambivalence towards all institutions associated with Soviet communism, require elaboration. Despite Russia's on-going national economic problems, Moscow is a dynamic city in the post-Soviet environment. It has been stated that during the economic turbulence of the 1970s, Fordist methods of production were revolutionised and led, along with the internationalisation of finance, to a structural change in the world economy. The structural devastation of Soviet economies went relatively unobserved by Soviet planners and Western analysts. It was believed in the Kremlin that public opinion in the West would support a reduction in nuclear weapons. The reduction in the need for extensive defensive or offensive measures requiring the incorporation of new and expensive technology would allow valuable time to restructure the economy.
