Gorbachevs Revolution, 19851991 [Paperback]

This detailed and scholarly history, based on contemporary and original sources, explains the fall of Soviet Communism by bringing into focus the process of revolution from above. It finds as its cause Gorbachev's relentless political struggle to raise himself above the collective leadership which brought him to power. Gorbachev's Revolution, 1985-91 examines: ? the impact of the SDI and other US arms programmes of the early 1980s which provided a stimulus for both Gorbachev's domestic reforms and his arms control initiatives ? Perestroika, originally intended to show the world that a new Soviet foreign policy was based on real changes in Soviet society, however, Gorbachev launched its most radical measures in order to get an edge on his Politburo critics ? Glasnost, originally meant to be a strictly controlled process furnishing an argument for piecemeal economic reforms This multi-faceted volume provides a wide-ranging and revisionist analysis of this fascinating and influential period in Soviet and international history.Preface - A Gorbachev Epiphany? - The Old Regime of the Soviet Communists: Foreign Policy in the Cold War - Hero of the Harvest - 'Acceleration of the Perfection' 1985-1987 - Gorbachev Bound: The Emergence of the Ligachev Opposition - The Thought of Mikhail Gorbachev: A Treatise and a Speech - Between Yeltsin and Ligachev - Another Escape Forward, 1988 - Dropping the Pilot: Gorbachev Retires Gromyko - 1989: The Year of Anger and Remembering - From the Wall to Stavropol: Gorbachev's German Policy - The Second Russian Revolution Gathers - From the Coup to the End - Conclusion: Utopia and Repentance - Index