ABSTRACT
A primary consideration that would seem to lend support to the notion of rigid separation is that the Soviets have apparently adopted certain institutional mechanisms to narrow the circle of top leaders who routinely concern themselves with defense decisions. If the national leadership decision-making perspective had to rely on the assumption of an omnipotent leader in the Soviet setting, it would hardly represent much of an advance over Perspectives I and II in doing justice to Soviet political realities. The key question to be addressed is whether the current Soviet leadership situation is supportive of the notion inherent in the rational strategic actor approach of a rigid separation of defense decision making from the broader Soviet political and economic context. The national leadership decision-making perspective thus parts company with the rational strategic actor approach by taking into account the heterogeneous elements in the Soviet decision-making setting.
