Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book begins with Robert Legvoid's essay, which contends that Mikhail Gorbachev revolutionized Soviet thinking about international politics and Soviet international behavior. It starts with William E. Odom's comprehensive survey of the Soviet military's composition, capabilities, and challenges in the rapidly changing domestic and international environments of the early 1990s. The book focuses on the goals and priorities of Soviet foreign policy and assesses its successes and failures. The Gorbachev administration consolidated prior commitments in Third World countries such as India, Syria, and Peru, and it initially increased military and economic support to client states such as Cuba, Mongolia, and Vietnam. It draws upon historical experience to peer into the future and to envision desirable East-West relations in rapidly changing domestic and international contexts.