ABSTRACT
Different policy prescriptions arise not from attention to different facts but from implicit explanatory models that try to make sense of what the available information means. These questions can be answered only by an understanding of how the Russian government operates, what are its bases of support, the relationship of society and interest groups to Russian political authority, and the relationship of Russian domestic politics to its foreign policy. In one of the most influential articles written in the field of Soviet foreign policy studies, George Kennan sought to explain Soviet foreign policy in terms of the totalitarian structure of the Soviet political system and its revolutionary Leninist heritage. Explanations for Gorbachev's new thinking in foreign policy often focused on the domestic political and institutional changes he implemented beginning in 1987. The chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.
