Inside the Soviet alternative universe
Subtitle: the Cold War's end and the Soviet Union's fall reappraised
By: Dick Combs.
Publisher: Pennsylvania State University Press; Penn State University Press
Published: 2008
Place of publication: University Park, Pa
Language: eng
Number of pages: 384
ISBN-13: 9780271033556
Subjects: Combs, Dick, -- 1935- -- Travel; Cold War; Heads of state -- Soviet Union -- Psychology; Soviet Union -- Politics and government
Description: "Reappraises the end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union based on the author's 35-year career as a specialist in Soviet and post-Soviet affairs. Explores the psychological universe of Soviet rulers to clarify the nature of Mikhail Gorbachev's reforms"--Provided by publisher.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: Foreword : myths that mislead / Jack F. Matlock Jr.; title: Author's preface; title: Reminiscence : ten years inside the empire; title: Initial encounters with the other side; title: Working levels of the soviet regime; title: Stagnation and disaffection; title: The beginning of the end; title: Reflection : a neglected psychological perspective; title: Comprehending another political world; title: Formation of the Soviet conception of governance; title: The conception's evolution under Khrushchev and Brezhnev; title: Gorbachev and the conception's terminal phase; title: Relevance : psychological milieu and current foreign policy issues; title: Reappraising the Cold War's end and the empire's fall I : key pieces of the puzzle; title: Reappraising the cold war's end and the empire's fall II : fitting the pieces together; title: Empire and democracy in post-Soviet Russia; title: An analytical blind spot and its consequences.