The Demise of the Soviet Union: Analysing the Collapse of a State

Description

Designed as a research text for academics in higher education and interested practitioners, this volume weaves together an original strand of international relations theory with key empirical case studies of the United States, United Kingdom, France and Sweden, and their attitudes towards the Soviet Union. Original in nature and composition, the book deals with aspects of predictability in foreign policy and gauges the level of impact that international events have on domestic levels of awareness. The hypothesis and the typology are solid, giving the book its strong analytical structure. In sum, this book is cutting edge. It will be of great use as a research text to those studying the countries of Western Europe, and also those with an interest in Russia and the Soviet Union. Given its strong theoretical content and its choices of case study, this cross-disciplinary text is also suitable for area studies in general. Contents List ofTables 1Dreface Acknowledgements 1 Introduction 2 The Setting: Relations with the Soviet Union, Sovietology and an Historical Outline 3 Official Analysis of the Soviet Union 1985-1991 4 The Analysis of Gorbachev’s Foreign Policy in Eight Elite Newspapers 5 The Sovietologists 6 Conclusion: To Analyse the Collapse of a State Appendix 1: The Sovietologists Appendix 2: Empirical Material Appendix 3: Important Speeches by the Politicians Appendix 4: Quotes from the Sovietologists Appendix 5: Official Foreign Policy Spokespersons Analysed Bibliography Index