ABSTRACT
Perestroika has probably had its most striking success in foreign policy. The turn toward perestroika and in particular its legitimation and justification by publicizing the negative balance sheet of the past has surprised almost all observers in the West – including most experts. The main reason for this is that sovietologists overrated the stability and the economic, political, and intellectual performance of the Soviet system. The resistance of the bureaucracy to freeing the economy from administrative chains and against every sort of decentralization of functions is imperative and immanent in the system. The activities of an opposition political party in embryo which calls itself the "Democratic League" have been harassed by the security organs, using short-term imprisonment, fines, and evictions. The "Democratic League," which is principally active in Moscow and Leningrad, demands the introduction of a plural party system, free trade unions and the right of self-determination of nations, including secession from the union.
