An assessment of the Soviet Union as it enters the 1990s, this collection of essays surveys the Gorbachev reform agenda and its successes and failures to date. Topics covered include federalism and the nationality problem and foreign policy towards the West, Eastern Europe and the Third World.

The contributors to this volume have undertaken an assessment of the Soviet Union as it enters the last decade of the 20th century. Organized to cover each major area of policy initiative (or response), the collection surveys the Gorbachev reform agenda and its successes and failures to date in various fields, including culture, economics, ideology, law, politics, federalism and the nationality problem, and foreign policy vis-a-vis the West, Eastern Europe and the Third World.