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Introduction: U.S. Foreign Policy in the Age of Gorbachev
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14399 |
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CURRENT ISSUES
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6 / 1988 |
1,031 Words |
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Are the United States and the Soviet Union now standing at a historic crossroads? Is it possible that these two superpower adversaries which have contested with each other on every continent in the world for the last 40 years, may be ready to resolve at least some of their strategic and political differences? Are the INF treaty signed in Washington, D.C., last December and this month's Moscow summit between President Reagan and General Secretary Gorbachev the first steps down the road that leads to true and lasting peace?
Such euphoric questions are being asked in every capital of the world by thoughtful men and women not normally given to euphoria. But the questions are justified. Clearly, Gorbachev is a far different Soviet leader than anyone the West has seen in decades, not just in style, but in substance. Brezhnev would never have suggested pulling out of Afghanistan, let alone setting a timetable to accomplish it. Khrushchev never challenged the nomenklatura as Gorbachev has with his call for a "deep reorganization" of the Soviet economic system.
But caution and suspicion, based on years of often bitter experience, understandably persist. What should U.S. policy be in the age of Gorbachev? This month's Special Reports presents the answers of leading experts in foreign policy, national defense, and economics.
Professor Jerry Hough of Duke University argues that the United States should try to encourage the Soviet Union's "reintegration into the West" and its opening to Western ideas. The United States should attempt to negotiate "meaningful" arms control agreements if Gorbachev "is willing to pay for them." And the United States
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