This collective volume highlights those aspects of Soviet internal dynamics that influence foreign policy and international relationships. The authors almost uniformly reflect a growing awareness of the importance of internal factors as a critical determinant shaping not only the Soviet Union’s position in the international arena, but also the making and effectiveness of Soviet foreign policy. A central premise of this volume is that both the range of options in Soviet foreign policymaking and the predispositions among the policymakers toward the selection of particular options are influenced and circumscribed by the dynamics of Soviet social, economic, and political development.