The Soviet Union, currently undergoing a period of transition, is faced with the need to overcome chronic problems both domestic and abroad that have been developing for many years. Wide-ranging and up-to-date, Soviet Politics takes a close look at all the major aspects of Soviet political life in the 1980s.

Are policymakers capable of learning about the complex international environment they must deal with when formulating foreign policy? Interest in the phenomenon of "learning" has been growing, driven in part by the advent of Gorbachev, and by prospects for ending the Cold War. In this book, leading scholars explore the theoretical and practical im