The Soviet Study of International Relations

ISBN-13: 9780521367639 / Angielski / Miękka / 1989 / 248 str.

Allen Lynch; Curt Gasteyger

Opis

This systematic observation of foreign policy within the Soviet Union shows how such phenomena as nuclear warfare, continued Western prosperity, and the Sino-Soviet split have forced analysts to diverge sharply from traditional Leninist orthodoxy. The result has been a Soviet analysis of world politics that is considerably more complex and politically sophisticated than westerners often assume. This is manifested in an increasingly multipolar world view, accepting the continued existence of the United States, in which the USSR is seen as an integral component of an international system rather than simply as the center of a unique and expanding system of its own. Fundamental to this changing perspective is the perception that no Soviet interests could possibly be served by nuclear war. In an extended preface to this paperback edition, Allen Lynch examines the impact of the recent Gorbachev reform initiative on the intellectual basis of Soviet foreign policy.

Recenzje

'This book comes just at the right moment … [It] is important firstly for the account it provides of changes in methodologies and assumptions, and secondly for its survey of related changes in Soviet views of the world over the last twenty years … This book stands out from previous treatments of the subject by virtue of its author's talent for distinguishing the essential from the inessential in the sometimes cryptic Soviet literature. It deserves a wide readership.' Neil Malcolm, Soviet Studies

Spis treści

Foreword Curt Gasteyger; Acknowledgements; Introduction: the 'new political thinking' and soviet foreign policy: intellectual origins and political consequences; Introduction to the first edition; 1. The background: Marx, Lenin, Stalin and the theory of international relations; 2. The development of soviet political studies; 3. Approaches to international relations; 4. The systems approach and international relations; 5. The structure of the international system: the systems level; 6. Critical subsystems; 7. The scientific-technical revolution and the changing face of international relations; Conclusion; Notes; Bibliography; Index.