ABSTRACT

The "new political thinking" has built on some severe and unusual criticisms of the USSR's foreign policy. Mikhail Gorbachev has charged that past Soviet leaders were preoccupied with East-West conflict to the detriment both of Soviet national interests and of world peace. The most striking aspect of Soviet discussions of foreign policy under Gorbachev is their emphasis on Soviet responsibility for the state of East-West relations. Gorbachev has been especially forceful about the need to change the USSR's image, and to banish the idea that the Soviet Union is a threat to the West. Gorbachev has criticized "stereotypes and cliches," "dogmatism," "inertia," "prejudice, complacency and stagnation" within the diplomatic service, and denounced "senseless stubbornness" in negotiations. He identified a number of faults in the working style of Soviet diplomats and in the foreign policy decision-making process that require correction.