ABSTRACT
The Soviet print and electronic media's treatment of domestic issues is almost as diversified and iconoclastic as that in any liberal democracy. This chapter focuses on the political considerations: the image of Soviet social structure and popular attitudes, of Soviet political structure and official attitudes, and of the impact of the international context on prospects for successful radical reform. It treats each of the topics in turn, specifying how ones perceptions of each can be the basis for counsels of alarm or counsels of hope. The chapter turns to several other issues that feed into pessimistic and optimistic forecasts, not in order to determine who is right, but rather to lay bare the varieties of assumptions that can underpin pessimism and optimism about the Soviet future. It emphasizes the importance of leadership and leadership strategies as intervening variables that may be decisive in determining the success of reform.
