Foreign And Domestic Policy In Eastern Europe In The 1980s

Analyzing the reasons for past reversals in foreign policy and the choices and dilemmas of the Reagan years, these essaays suggest creative approaches for protecting the vital interests of the United States, both economic and military, while remaining true to its ideals. Part I places the foreign policy of the Reagan Administration in an international and domestic context, lays out major themes of policy and describes the major constraints and tradeoffs limiting implementation of policy. Part II examines policies on defense, international economics and energy. Part III examines policies toward the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, China, Western Europe, Latin America, Africa and the Middle East. ISBN 0-316-67731-0 (pbk.) : $10.95.

Relations between the superpowers and the nations of Eastern and Western Europe are especially tenuous as the midpoint of the 1980s approaches. The contributors to this volume assess the current political, economic, and military dimensions of Europe’s international relations and consider the prospects for change, focusing on the role of the rival alliance systems (NATO and the Warsaw Pact), Soviet conceptions of the future of Europe, U.S. goals concerning the maintenance of NATO, and Europe’s assessment of its own interests and objectives. The book concludes by addressing the impact of Soviet and East European domestic developments on present and future East-West relations.

This book believes that the Soviet Union will not relax its stranglehold and will continue to dominate Eastern Europe's cultural, social, and economic policies. It assesses the contemporary state of affairs in Eastern Europe from an historical perspective.

Vividly written and based on up-to-date scholarship, this title provides an interpretive overview of the international history of the Cold War.

This report examines the importance of Eastern Europe to the USSR, the Soviet approach toward the region in the past, and possible future short-term and longer-term Soviet policies toward Eastern Europe. It examines dilemmas facing the Soviet Union in Eastern Europe and the Soviet "preferred vision" for a European order that would overcome these dilemmas. It assesses the collapse of the Brezhnev policy toward Eastern Europe, Soviet assessments of its causes, and likely responses.

From 1998 to 2005, six elections took place in postcommunist Europe that had the surprising outcome of empowering the opposition and defeating authoritarian incumbents or their designated successors. Valerie J. Bunce and Sharon L. Wolchik compare these unexpected electoral breakthroughs. They draw three conclusions. First, the opposition was victorious because of the hard and creative work of a transnational network composed of local opposition and civil society groups, members of the international democracy assistance community and graduates of successful electoral challenges to authoritarian rule in other countries. Second, the remarkable run of these upset elections reflected the ability of this network to diffuse an ensemble of innovative electoral strategies across state boundaries. Finally, elections can serve as a powerful mechanism for democratic change. This is especially the case when civil society is strong, the transfer of political power is through constitutional means, and opposition leaders win with small mandates.