Mechanisms of Power in the Soviet Union

Three well-published Danish scholars in Russian and East European studies organized an international conference held in Copenhagen in 1998, and have edited 12 of the papers by scholars from Russia, Europe, the US, and Australia. The overlying theme is that the centralized power of the Communist Party, replacing that of the Czars, was the mechanism holding together the Soviet Union. Individual papers examine the Fall of the Soviet Union, Stalin, the Secret apparatus, the Moscow headquarters of the Comintern, the intelligence services, and the policy of extraordinary measures. Papers on foreign policy cover the Winter War, the Soviet Embassy in Denmark, Korea, and the Warsaw Pact. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com) Based on new archival evidence and other heretofore unutilized or underutilized sources, this collection of essays examines the power structures, communication channels, and the mechanisms of decision-making within the Soviet political system. The book deals with both domestic and foreign policy problems. Special attention is focused on the era of Stalinism.
The fall of the Soviet Union in 1991 represents not just the rejection of socialist ideals in the form in which they were realized in the USSR, but the collapse of the mechanism of power that was at the heart of the Soviet system. Based on archival evidence and other sources, these essays examine the power structures, communication channels and mechanisms of decision making within the Soviet political system