ABSTRACT
Since March 1985, when Mikhail Gorbachev became General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU), the party and state organisations responsible for shaping Soviet foreign policy have undergone many important changes. This chapter highlights some of those changes by examining the role of the CPSU International Department and its relationship with the Soviet Foreign Ministry. It discusses the evolution of the International Department (ID) before Gorbachev came to power and provides a basis for appreciating the significance of recent shifts in the ID's role. The chapter summarises recent trends in the International Department's role and offers a few concluding thoughts about the future. In formal bureaucratic terms, the Foreign Ministry had no comparable access on a regular basis to top party bodies, and thus Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials had an incentive to work together with the ID in preparing recommendations for policy towards the Third World.
