Soviet efforts to end the Cold War were intended to help revitalize the USSR. Instead, Nick Bisley argues, they contributed crucially to its collapse.
Using historical-sociological theory, this work shows that international confrontation had been an important element of Soviet rule and that the retreat from this confrontational posture weakened institutional-functional aspects of the state. This played a vital role in making the USSR vulnerable to the forces of economic crisis, elite fragmentation and nationalism which ultimately caused its collapse.
Product Details
- Author: Nick Bisley
- Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
- ISBN-13: 978-1403935786
- Publication date: 2004-08-12
- Original Language: English
- Binding: Hardcover
- 224 pages
