The Challenge to Soviet Interests in Eastern Europe

The Challenge to Soviet Interests in Eastern Europe
Author: F. Stephen Larrabee
Publisher:
Total Pages: 136
Release: 1984
Genre: History
ISBN:

This report examines socioeconomic and political developments in Romania, Hungary, and East Germany. It analyzes the viability of Romania's autonomous position within the Soviet Bloc. It considers the present and future viability of the "Hungarian model," Hungary's decentralized and less repressive economic and political system. It examines domestic East German developments, especially the strengthening in the GDR of German national consciousness. In each country discussion, the emphasis is on examining domestic factors which may lead to new challenges to Soviet interests in Eastern Europe in the future. The study's findings suggest that in the next decade the Soviet Union will be challenged to maintain control over its East European alliance during a period when economies are cooling and leadership is changing. Simply "muddling through," as Brezhnev did in his last years, will not be sufficient. In the absence of a serious restructuring of its relations with its East European allies in the next decade, Moscow will risk the prospect of greater instability and unrest.

The Challenge to Soviet Interests in Eastern Europe

The Challenge to Soviet Interests in Eastern Europe
Author: James F. Brown
Publisher:
Total Pages: 43
Release: 1986
Genre: Bulgaria
ISBN:

"Bulgaria and Czechoslovakia have long been considered the Soviet Union's most stable allies in Eastern Europe, and neither appears likely to present challenges to Soviet interests in the near future. Nonetheless, both countries have been victims of the general economic downturn in the Eastern Bloc, and each is characterized by political trends that, combined with economic sluggishness, could indirectly threaten Soviet hegemony. This Note examines socioeconomic and political developments in Bulgaria and Czechoslovakia and considers the prospects of new instabilities in these two countries. The emphasis is on examining domestic factors that could lead to new challenges to Soviet interests in Eastern Europe in the next decade."--Rand abstracts.

Soviet Policy in Eastern Europe

Soviet Policy in Eastern Europe
Author: Sarah Meiklejohn Terry
Publisher: Yale University Press
Total Pages: 396
Release: 1984-01-01
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0300031319

A comprehensive look at both the diversity of Eastern Europe and the multiplicity of Soviet concerns in the region.

Challenges to Soviet Control in Eastern Europe

Challenges to Soviet Control in Eastern Europe
Author: J. F. Brown
Publisher:
Total Pages: 47
Release: 1984
Genre:
ISBN:

This report summarizes and develops the findings of a project that examined the security issues posed for the United States by the likely evolution of the Soviet Bloc during the 1980s and beyond. Primary emphasis was placed on the political, economic, and social challenges to Soviet interests in Eastern Europe, as the framework for appraising the extent to which East European military forces can augment Soviet military capabilities in the late 1980s and the degree to which the Soviet army can operate in Eastern Europe unconstrained by local developments. Among the authors' conclusions are the following: (1) Poland has been pacified but not 'normalized'; latent and active opposition continues. The process of pacification has made the army the real locus of power. (2) Poland and Romania are in economic crisis, and economic problems are severe throughout the region. Nevertheless, the East European economies have developed to the point where they have no choice of improved performance if they are cut off from the international economy. (3) The decline of consumerism will contribute to social ferment and working-class frustration. (4) The USSR and local leaderships in Eastern Europe will attempt to muddle through by pursuing conservative and repressive, rather than adaptive status quo policies in the face of greater social ferment.

The Impact of Eastern Europe on Soviet Policy Toward Western Europe

The Impact of Eastern Europe on Soviet Policy Toward Western Europe
Author: A. Ross Johnson
Publisher:
Total Pages: 104
Release: 1986
Genre: Political Science
ISBN:

This report examines the ways in which Soviet control of Eastern Europe has both contributed to and detracted from the Soviet Union's pursuit of foreign policy goals in Western Europe. In successive sections, it (1) reviews the highlights of past USSR-East European-West European interactions and outlines general characteristics of the triangular relationship; (2) examines the impact of the Polish crisis; and (3) traces the East European foreign policy activity related to NATO's 1983 decision to deploy intermediate-range nuclear forces and analyzes the emergence of a group of East European states--East Germany, Hungary, Bulgaria, and Romania--whose policies differed from those of the Soviets. The author suggests that, while Eastern Europe serves as a constraint on Soviet relations with Western Europe, Western Europe also acts as a constraint on Soviet policy toward Eastern Europe. (Author).