Soviet Union under Brezhnev

William Tompson is Reader in Politics at Birkbeck College, University of London.

• Acknowledgements IXChronology XIPART ONE: INTRODUCTION 11. THE SOVIET UNION AT THE END OF THEKHRUSHCHEV ERA 3The Fall of Nikita Khrushchev 3The New Leaders 5Soviet Society a Decade After Stalin's Death 8The Soviet Union and the World in 1964 9PART TWO: ANALYSIS 132. LEADERSHIP POLITICS 15High Politics and Brezhnev's Consolidation of Power 15Brezhnev as Politician: Mannequin or 1;lachiavellian? 17'Two Brezhnevs'? 20The Soviet Elite in the Brezhnev Era 223. POLICY-MAKING IN THE BREZHNEV ERA 26Brezhnev as Policy-maker: From Consensus to Stagnation? 26The Role of the Politburo and Secretariat 28Taking Advice: Information, Institutions and Expertise 30Policy-making in Practice: The Case of Arms Control 334. FOREIGN POLICY FROM CUBA TO HELSINKI 35The Defence Build-up of the 1960s 35Managing. the Bloc 36War in Vietnam and US-Soviet Relations 39The Road to Superpower Detente 40China 42The Soviet Union and the Developing World 43The Era of High Detente 475. FROM HELSINKI TO THE SECOND COLD WAR 50Arms Control and Trade 50Detente Under Strain 52China 55VI ContentsAfghanistan 56Poland 58Conflicting Expectations and the Failure of Detente 59After Detente 616. ECONOMIC POLICY UNDER BREZHNEV AND KOSYGIN 64Soviet Industry Under the Kosygin Reforms and After 64The Limits of Reform 67Soviet Agriculture in the Brezhnev Era 69Blind Spots in Economic Policy and the 'Obsession with Growth' 727. ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE 75Growth Performance Under Brezhnev and Kosygin 75The Failure of the Centrally Planned Economy 78Detente, Foreign Trade and the 'Scientific and Technical Revolution' 82Living Standards and Household Welfare 838. SOCIO-ECONOMIC AND DEMOGRAPHIC CHANGE 86Urbanisation and Education 86The 'Social Contract' Under Strain 88Emerging Demographic Problems 91Nationalities Policy Under Brezhnev 939. CULTURE AND IDEAS 98Culture High and Low 99The Crackdown on Dissent 103The Changing Nature of Dissidence 105Growing Room for 'Permitted Heterodoxy' 107PART THREE: ASSESSMENT 10910. BREZHNEV'S LEGACY TO GORBACHEV 111Brezhnev's Twilight 111The Andropov Interregnum 113The Chernenko Interlude 115State and Society at the End of the Brezhnev Era 117PART FOUR: DOCUMENTS 119Glossary 147Who's Who 150Guide to Further Reading 153Bibliography 158Index