Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book begins with Robert Leg void's essay, which contends that Mikhail Gorbachev revolutionized Soviet thinking about international politics and Soviet international behavior. Robert Legvold affirms that Gorbachev dramatically changed both the strategy and tactics of Soviet foreign policy. It examines 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. Discussing the sovereignty claims of the USSR's republics, he raises the most basic questions about civil-military relations and about the aims, content, and impact of defense and foreign policies. The book includes historically grounded essays on the basic characteristics of Soviet foreign policy. It presents different Western views on the world outlooks and motivations of present-day Soviet leaders, the formulation and implementation of Soviet foreign policy, and the relationships between the USSR's domestic and international priorities.