Mechanisms of Power in the Soviet Union

ISBN-13: 9780333771402 / Angielski / Miękka / 2000 / 277 str.

Opis

Based on new archival evidence and other heretofore unutilized or underutilized sources, this collection of essays examines the power structures, communication channels and mechanisms of decision-making within the Soviet political system. The book deals with both domestic and foreign policy problems. Special attention is focused on the era of Stalinism. The list of contributors includes some of the leading specialists within the field of Russian studies and the study of International Communism from Russia, the United States, Australia, Switzerland and Denmark.

Spis treści

Foreword Editor's Note Notes on the Contributors PART I: THE SYSTEM - STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION The Soviet Mechanism of Power and the Fall of the Soviet Union; G.Gill The Strength and Weaknesses of Stalin's Power; I.V.Pavlova The Importance of the Secret Apparatus of the Communist Party During the Stalin Era; N.E.Rosenfeldt The Moscow Headquarters of the Comintern: Departments, Leading Organs, Soviet Influence and Decision Making; P.Huber The Soviet Intelligence Services and the Government: Information and Military-Political Decisions from the 1920s to the Early 1950s; V.V.Poznyakov The Transformation of the Policy of Extraordinary Measures into a Permanent System of Government; G.A.Bordiougov PART II: FOREIGN POLICY - ASPECTS OF DECISION-MAKING AND COMMUNICATION The Making of Propaganda Concerning USSR Foreign Policy 1939-1941; V.A.Nevezhin The USSR's Decision to Begin the 'Winter War' 1939-1940; V.N.Baryshnikov Room for Discussion - The Correspondence of Narkomindel and the Soviet Embassy in Denmark; R.Haue Soviet Remote Control: The Island of Bornholm as a Relay Station in Soviet-Danish Relations 1945-1971; B.Jensen Making Foreign Policy Under Stalin: The Case of Korea; K.Weathersby The Soviet Union and the Origins of the Warsaw Pact in 1955; V.Mastny Index

O autorze

NIELS ERIK ROSENFELDT is Associate Professor at the Institute of East European Studies, University of Copenhagen, Member of the Board, Danish Institute of International Affairs. Among his publications are Knowledge and Power: The Role of Stalin's Secret Chancellery in the Soviet System of Government (1978), Stalinstyrets Nervecenter (1980), Stalin's Special Departments (1989) Stalin's Secret Chancellery and the Comintern (1991). He has contributed to numerous other publications, especially within the field of Soviet history and contemporary Russian politics.

BENT JENSEN is professor at Odense University. His publications include Denmark and the Russian Question 1917-1924 (1979), The Stalin Revolution (1982), The Voice of Sakharov (1983), The Fascination of Stalinism and the Danish Left Intellectuals (1984), The Soviet Union and Denmark Since World War Two (1987) and The Long Liberation: Bornholm Occupied and Liberated, 1945-1946 (1996).

ERIK KULAVIG is Head of Department, Slavonic Studies at Odense University. He teaches courses in Russian and Soviet history and culture. He is co-editor (with Mette Bryld) of the book Soviet Civilization Between Past and Present and author of Propaganda and Everyday Life in Russia 1924-36 and Russian Nationalism 1986-92.