Download
Download Free Electronic Document
| Format | File Size | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| PDF file | 0.9 MB | Use Adobe Acrobat Reader version 10 or higher for the best experience. |
Purchase
Purchase Print Copy
| Format | List Price | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Add to Cart | Paperback15 pages | $20.00 | $16.00 20% Web Discount |
This paper, reprinted from National Security Issues of the USSR (M. Feshbach, ed., Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, Dordrecht, The Netherlands, 1987), considers Soviet foreign policy under Gorbachev. Gorbachev's first priority in foreign policy is to consolidate weak or threatened positions. He will be selective about making new commitments and sensitive to the economic and political costs of making bad choices. He has initiated the most thorough and far-reaching reorganization of the Soviet foreign policymaking structure since World War II, and has blurred the division of labor between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Communist Party's International Department. This restructuring indicates a downgrading in the priority of the Third World in Soviet foreign policy. The United States remains at the center of Gorbachev's foreign policy, and arms control at the center of his American policy. Failure by the United States and by the Western alliance to agree on a common strategy for dealing with the Soviet Union in the Gorbachev era could mean losing the opportunity either to pressure the Soviet Union effectively or to deal with it profitably.
This report is part of the RAND Corporation Occasional paper (Soviet) series. The occasional paper series was a product of the RAND Corporation from 1985 to 1992. It included the occasional paper education (OPE) and occasional paper Soviet (OPS), which was issued jointly by the RAND/UCLA Center for Soviet Studies (CSS) to facilitate the exchange of ideas among those who shared the research interests of the Center and of scholars participating in its research and seminar programs.
This document and trademark(s) contained herein are protected by law. This representation of RAND intellectual property is provided for noncommercial use only. Unauthorized posting of this publication online is prohibited; linking directly to this product page is encouraged. Permission is required from RAND to reproduce, or reuse in another form, any of its research documents for commercial purposes. For information on reprint and reuse permissions, please visit www.rand.org/pubs/permissions.
The RAND Corporation is a nonprofit institution that helps improve policy and decisionmaking through research and analysis. RAND's publications do not necessarily reflect the opinions of its research clients and sponsors.