The Future Of Soviet Policy Toward Western Europe

This report presents the multiple issues raised at an international conference on "The Future of Soviet Policy Toward Western Europe," held in Ebenhausen, West Germany, October 26-28, 1984, under the auspices of The RAND Corporation, the Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik, and the Institut Francais des Relations Internationales. The ten papers presented at the conference consider the internal Soviet dimension (both political and economic) and its possible consequences for the future of Soviet policy toward Western Europe; the nature of present Soviet strategy toward Western Europe, both in general and with respect to West Germany in particular; the East European factor and its possible effects on European detente; Soviet behavior in the world arena and its possible consequences for Europe; and finally, overall prospects for Soviet policy, both in the near term and in the late 1980s.

This book, first published in 1984, carefully examine the political debate surrounding nuclear weapons and superpower polices in Cold War Western Europe. It seeks to analyse a distinctly European view in Soviet policy, as opposed to a superpower view. It examines Soviet domestic and foreign policy, economic and military practice, with the aim of understanding and countering the Soviet threat to Western Europe.

The monumental events in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union must be understood, Jan Van Oudenaren argues, in the context of a process of East-West détente begun in 1953 in the aftermath of Stalin's death. Van Oudenaren's comprehensive and timely study examines the development of Soviet-Western détente from the death of Stalin to the unification of Germany. In redefining détente as a process, rather than a code of conduct, Van Oudenaren looks to its origins in Soviet policy earlier than previously identified and analyzes both its history and character. His study explores the restoration of four-power negotiations in Germany and Austria in the mid-1950s, their subsequent breakdown in the Berlin crisis, their unexpected revival in 1990 in the form of "two plus four" talks on German unity, and the future of the Soviet Union as a European power. Among the key elements of détente discussed are diplomacy, particularly the role of summit conferences; cooperation among parliaments, political parties, and trade unions; arms control; economic relations; and links among cultural institutions, churches, and peace movements.

This report analyzes the objectives, instruments, and achievements of Soviet policy toward Western Europe. It focuses on the mechanisms used by the Soviet Union to pursue its objectives in Europe, including diplomacy, military power, arms control, the West European Communist parties, ties with the non-Communist left, propaganda, and trade. The author concludes that the Soviet Union has achieved mixed results in its policy toward Western Europe. While it has succeeded in helping to consolidate postwar gains, Soviet policy has not yet made a dramatic breakthrough toward its stated objective of fostering a system of 'collective security' in Europe. Nevertheless, there is little evidence to suggest that failure to achieve these maximal goals has led the Soviets to rethink their objectives of lower their expectations. (Author).

This book presents articles that provide a detailed account on the role of Gorbachev in Soviet's future, political reform, educational reform, economy, military, policy toward the United States and Western Europe, and relations with the developing world. .

This book is a study on the Soviet foreign policy when the task of renovating the country was placed on the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's (CPSU) political agenda. It discusses Gorbachev's new approach to foreign policy and the political change that reshaped Soviet and European history.