ABSTRACT
Mikhail Gorbachev’s new thinking represents an attempt by both academic analysts and party and government officials to integrate the new realities of Soviet capabilities and intentions with changes in the outside world. The growing sophistication of Soviet economists, sociologists, and foreign policy specialists also played a role in framing the bold and sweeping nature of Gorbachev’s reforms. Gorbachev has sought to redefine the concept of national security in ways that deemphasize purely military concerns and stress instead political settlements and peaceful competition. At the Twenty-Seventh Party Congress in February 1986, Gorbachev acknowledged the strategic implications of the nuclear stalemate. Gorbachev’s promise of unilateral reductions made before the United Nations General Assembly late in 1988 and the Soviet positions taken at the Conventional Forces in Europe talks have been offered to lend credence to Soviet interest in breaking the deadlock on conventional forces.
