Western Perceptions Of Soviet Goals: Is Trust Possible?

This study investigates Western views on the potential future developments in the U.S.S.R. It traces the facts, figures, fears and ideological prejudices that have contributed to the mutual mistrust between the East and the West over long-range political goals and recommends ways of reducing it.

Table of Contents:
Preface -- Introductory Remarks: Mutual Perceptions of Long-Range Political Goals as an Obstacle to Trust Creation -- »Perestroika« of Ideology? -- Long Term Policy Goals as Elements of National Threat Perceptions: Some Remarks on Their Changing Role in the European Context -- A Cold War View of the U.S.S.R.: Konrad Adenauer’s Perception of Soviet Politics -- Coping with the Prospect of Endless Conflict: Dilemmas of US Policies and the Salience of Long-Term Objectives -- The Nature and Patterns of Western Thought about the East-West Conflict -- Threat Perceptions and Shifts of Public Attitudes, 1960s-1980s -- Meaning and Perception Patterns: A Preliminary Logico-Semantic Analysis -- Fear of the Soviet Union: Individual and Cultural Perceptions -- The »New Political Thinking« on Soviet Foreign Relations -- The Rediscovery of Russian Culture: Its Social and Political Significance -- Confidence-Building Measures and Western Perceptions of Soviet Long-Range Goals -- Round-Table Discussion -- The World on the Road to the Year 2000: Comparison of Trends in Western and Soviet Society in the Coming 15 Years -- Theory of the »Pugwash Process« or: Possibilites and Impossibilities of Overcoming Ideological Differences -- Contrasting U.S. Perceptions of the Military Balance in Europe and the Management of Long-Term Competition with the Soviet Union -- The Strategic Dimensions of Soviet Economic Reform -- Long-Term Goals in Soviet Science and Technology Policy: Confrontation or Cooperation with the West? -- Ideology and Public Opinion: The Role of Soviet Education -- Appendix -- Expansionism and Secretive Decision-Making Two Key Problems of the Soviet System -- Soviet »New Thinking« on the World and Foreign Policy -- Developments in Soviet Political Thinking in Foreign Policy

About the Author :
Klaus Gottstein is director of a research unit of the Max Planck Society investigating problems of science and society. He is professor at the University of Munich, and Scientific Member of the Max Planck Institute for Physics and Astrophysics.