The Soviet Communist Party in Disarray: The XXVIII Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (Studies in Russian and East European History and Society)

Contents Acknowledgements vi Notes on the Contributors vii The writing and preparation of this book for publication has necessarily been compressed into a short period of time, with the objective of producing a work that remains topical and relevant to the study of the current political situation in the Soviet Union. It seeks also to situate the XXVIII Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in its wider political context I am indebted to my fellow contributors -Professor R. W. Davies, Professor Stephen White and Dr Jonathan Haslam -for the speed with which they have submitted their contributions, and their cooperation with the editor in finalising the draft for publication. I wish to thank Professor R. W. Davies for reading Chapters 3, 4, and 7 and for many useful comments for their improvement Professor Philip Hanson and Dr Julian Cooper of the Centre for Russian and East European Studies, University of Birmingham, were kind enough to read and make helpful comments on Chapter 3. Dr J. R. Hughes of the University of Keele read and commented on early versions of Chapters 3, 4, and 7. Finally I would like to thank Mrs Betty Bennett for her extremely efficient and patient work in preparing the typescript for publication. This book presents an in-depth analysis of the proceedings of the XXVIII Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. It explores the struggle for power between radicals, reformers and conservatives, focusing on the debate on political reform, the role of the Party, Soviet history, economic restructuring, the nationalities question and foreign policy. It makes a contribution to the study of the history of the Soviet Communist Party, and provides insights into the ideological debate raging within the Party regarding the future of perestroika. Front Matter....Pages i-vii Introduction....Pages 1-5 Background to the XXVIII Congress....Pages 6-28 The Politics of the XXVIII Congress....Pages 29-60 Economic Policy....Pages 61-89 Nationalities Policy....Pages 90-118 History and Perestroika ....Pages 119-147 Foreign Policy....Pages 148-156 Party Relations with the Military and the KGB....Pages 157-184 Focusing on the issues of political reform, economic restructuring, the nationalities question and foreign policy, this book explores the struggle for power between radicals, reformers and conservatives in the USSR