Glasnost, Perestroika, and the Socialist Community

Although there is an abundance of scholarly inquiry into the effects on the Soviet socialist system of the historic reforms under Gorbachev's administration, relatively little attention has been paid to the impact these reforms might have on socialism outside the Soviet Union. This book makes a preliminary assessment of the impact of glasnost, perestroika, and related Soviet reforms on selected socialist countries. The sampling of socialist countries studied are roughly representative of the types of socialist states in existence today. The countries studied include Poland, Czechoslovakia, China, Cuba, Vietnam, Afghanistan, and North Korea.

The contributors to this volume approach their topics from varying perspectives, each singling out and examining different areas in the individual governments where the impact of Soviet reforms is likely to be strongest. The result is a number of varying conclusions regarding the effects of glasnost and perestroika on the socialist community. In some cases, the impact might be intentional and direct, part of a conscious policy adopted by the Soviet Union. In other cases, the impact may be indirect and even unintentional, given the complex and interdependent nature of world politics and economics. Advanced undergraduate and graduate students with an interest in comparative politics, international relations, and communist studies will find this book a source of stimulating ideas about the rapidly changing face of socialism.

Introduction
Poland and Czechoslovakia: Test Cases for Perestroika by David S. Mason
Developing Socialism in the Soviet Union and China by J. Richard Walsh
Cuba: Guarding the Revolution by Juan M. del Aquila
The Impacts of "Restructuring" and "New Thinking" on Soviet-Vietnamese Relations by Daniel S. Papp.
Glasnost and Afghanistan: The Mirage in the Desert by Stephen Blank
Gorbachev and the Korean Issue by Roy U. T. Kim
Assessing the Impact of Glasnost and Perestroika by Charles Bukowski
Select Bibliography
Index