Cambridge Russian Paperbacks – serie

This is a comprehensive study of Soviet policies in the Middle East. Concentrating on policy developments, Professor Golan analyses the major Soviet decisions and objectives from the end of World War II to the Gorbachev era. She pays particular attention to the wars and crises of recent years and the often problematic development of political relationships in the region. Professor Golan begins by demonstrating how, until the end of the Brezhnev period, Soviet policies towards the Middle East were principally influenced by the demands of superpower competition with the USA. This is followed by a series of broadly chronological case studies of the main Soviet alliances, such as Syria and South Yemen; and of Sadat's Egypt and Khomeni's Iran. This original and important book culminates in a study of Gorbachev's interests, initiatives, and 'new thinking' in relation to overall Soviet foreign policy objectives and the role of the Soviet Union in the region.

This book was first published in 1989. The Soviet presence and purposes in Latin America are a matter of great controversy, yet no serious study was hitherto combined with a regional perspective (concentrating on the nature and regional impact of Soviet activity on the ground) and diplomatic analysis, examining the strategic and ideological factors that influence Soviet foreign policy. Nicola Miller's lucid and accessible survey of Soviet-Latin American relations over the past quarter-century demonstrates clearly that existing, heavily 'geo-political' accounts distort the real nature of Soviet activity in the area, closely constrained by local political, social and geographical factors. In a broadly chronological series of case-studies Dr Miller argues that, American counter-influence apart, enormous physical and communicational barriers obstruct Soviet-Latin American relations and that the lack of economic complementarity imposes a natural obstacle to trading growth: even Cuba, often cited as 'proof' of Soviet designs upon the area, is only an apparent exception.

This is the first book to analyse the relationship between the Soviet state and society from the October Revolution of 1917 to the revolution under Stalin of the late 1920s and early 1930s. Professor Lewis Siegelbaum examines the ways in which the promise of a new society made by the 1917 Revolution informed the thinking of those who had experienced the order which preceded it. But how did that old order limit possibilities? How did the new Party leaders, worker activists, artists, and scientists know what to abolish, what to retain, and what to transform? The author explores these questions by tracing the evolution of the ruling Communist Party and its New Economic Policy and the changing fortunes of industrial workers, peasants, and the scientific and cultural intelligentsia. He demonstrates how these different actors sought to appropriate the promise of the 1917 Revolution for their own purposes, highlights the compromises they made, and explains why in the late 1920s these compromises had started to break down.

This book presents a side of Russian life that is largely unknown to the West - the world of popular culture. By surveying detective and science fiction, popular songs, jokes, box office movie hits, stage, radio and television, Professor Richard Stites introduces the people and cultural products that are household words to Russian people. Spanning the entire twentieth century, the author examines the subcultures that draw upon and enrich Russian popular culture. He explores the relationship between popular culture and the national and social values of the masses, including their heroes and myths, and assesses the phenomenon of the celebrity from the silent screen star to the latest rock music idol. Richard Stites pays particular attention to the dramatic battle between elite and popular culture and to the intervention of revolutions, wars, and the state in the production and control of this culture.

This is the first book to analyse the relationship between the Soviet state and society from the October Revolution of 1917 to the revolution under Stalin of the late 1920s and early 1930s. Professor Lewis Siegelbaum examines the ways in which the promise of a new society made by the 1917 Revolution informed the thinking of those who had experienced the order which preceded it. But how did that old order limit possibilities? How did the new Party leaders, worker activists, artists, and scientists know what to abolish, what to retain, and what to transform? The author explores these questions by tracing the evolution of the ruling Communist Party and its New Economic Policy and the changing fortunes of industrial workers, peasants, and the scientific and cultural intelligentsia. He demonstrates how these different actors sought to appropriate the promise of the 1917 Revolution for their own purposes, highlights the compromises they made, and explains why in the late 1920s these compromises had started to break down.

Although the history of centrally planned economies has been widely studied, the development of socialist thinking on the subject has remained largely uncharted. In this 1991 work, Pekka Sutela presents a detailed analysis of Soviet economic thought and theory. Dr Sutela traces the competing currents in the Marxist tradition of socialist economies from the Revolution to the present day. In particular he shows how the Gorbachev economic reform programme of 1987 rose from the work of Nobel Prize economist L. V. Kantorovich and his followers. However, this programme failed and the author explains in some detail why this happened. Since then, Soviet economists have tried to abandon their traditional theory of central planning and move along the path and long established contacts with leading Soviet economists, Pekka Sutela is able to show how Soviet economic thinking has moved from dogmatism through reformism to pragmatism.

Although the history of centrally planned economies has been widely studied, the development of socialist thinking on the subject has remained largely uncharted. In this 1991 work, Pekka Sutela presents a detailed analysis of Soviet economic thought and theory. Dr Sutela traces the competing currents in the Marxist tradition of socialist economies from the Revolution to the present day. In particular he shows how the Gorbachev economic reform programme of 1987 rose from the work of Nobel Prize economist L. V. Kantorovich and his followers. However, this programme failed and the author explains in some detail why this happened. Since then, Soviet economists have tried to abandon their traditional theory of central planning and move along the path and long established contacts with leading Soviet economists, Pekka Sutela is able to show how Soviet economic thinking has moved from dogmatism through reformism to pragmatism.

Environmental problems and their management were one of the main areas of concern for the Soviet government in the late 1980s, just before its dissolution. In this original study, first published in 1991, barely preceding the Soviet Union's collapse, Professor Philip Pryde examines the pervasive nature of biosphere disruption and environmental contaminants in the country and the extent to which they represented a threat to the Soviet populace and its resource base. This book was the first comprehensive study of Soviet environmental issues and was written by an international specialist on Soviet environmental problems and management. It was first published at a time when the Western world was increasingly following developments in the Soviet Union with interest and environmental protection had become one of the primary topics of glasnost. Environmental Management in the Soviet Union will therefore be essential reading for environmental historians and for students and specialists of conservation and environmental management with a special interest in the Soviet Union.

The collapse of the Soviet Union and the emergence of fifteen independent states on its former territory is one of the most momentous developments of the twentieth century. In this volume, five leading international scholars team up to examine the forces that lay behind the rise of national movements which challenged, then destroyed, the stability and territorial integrity of the former Soviet state offering unique insights into the links between political structure and nationalism. Presenting a broad and timely analysis of the national dimension of politics after perestroika, this book is essential reading for all those seeking to understand the complexities underlying the demise of the Soviet state, as well as the emergence of new states actively engaged in defining their national identities at home and abroad.

In this book Charles Ziegler develops the concept of learning in foreign policy by exploring the link between Mikhail Gorbachev's domestic reforms and the radical transformation of Soviet relations with North-east Asia in the 1980s. He argues that, although international factors may have played a role, it was pressures for domestic change, and economic reform in particular, which had the greatest impact on Soviet thinking. The history of Soviet relations with North-east Asia is briefly traced, highlighting the extent to which ideology impeded foreign policy learning under Stalin, Khrushchev and Brezhnev. The author then turns to Gorbachev's determined efforts to reverse thirty years of Sino-Soviet hostility, his mixed record on Soviet-Japanese relations, the turnaround in Soviet policy toward South Korea, and changing Soviet national security interests in the Far East and Western Pacific.

The collapse of the Soviet Union and the emergence of fifteen independent states on its former territory is one of the most momentous developments of the twentieth century. In this volume, five leading international scholars team up to examine the forces that lay behind the rise of national movements which challenged, then destroyed, the stability and territorial integrity of the former Soviet state offering unique insights into the links between political structure and nationalism. Presenting a broad and timely analysis of the national dimension of politics after perestroika, this book is essential reading for all those seeking to understand the complexities underlying the demise of the Soviet state, as well as the emergence of new states actively engaged in defining their national identities at home and abroad.

Reforming the Russian Legal System is a comprehensive analysis of the forces that are shaping legal reform in the republics of the former USSR. Looking beneath the flow of day-to-day developments, the book examines how traditional indigenous Russian legal values, and the 74-year experience with communism and 'socialist legality' are being combined with Western concepts of justice and due process to forge a new legal consciousness in Russia today. The author provides a broad historical survey of pre-revolutionary and Soviet-era legal developments, which provides a backdrop to the reforms initiated by Gorbachev. Chapters analysing constitutional law, criminal law and procedure, the Procuracy, and the laws governing the transition to a market economy illustrate the recurring themes of the book: the interaction of crosscurrents in Russian legal culture, and variations in the pace of legal reform from republic to republic and region to region.

Reforming the Russian Legal System is a comprehensive analysis of the forces that are shaping legal reform in the republics of the former USSR. Looking beneath the flow of day-to-day developments, the book examines how traditional indigenous Russian legal values, and the 74-year experience with communism and 'socialist legality' are being combined with Western concepts of justice and due process to forge a new legal consciousness in Russia today. The author provides a broad historical survey of pre-revolutionary and Soviet-era legal developments, which provides a backdrop to the reforms initiated by Gorbachev. Chapters analysing constitutional law, criminal law and procedure, the Procuracy, and the laws governing the transition to a market economy illustrate the recurring themes of the book: the interaction of crosscurrents in Russian legal culture, and variations in the pace of legal reform from republic to republic and region to region.