'Dr Lynch's book is an insightful and incisive examination of Soviet theories and concepts of international politics and foreign policy. Not only does he provide a concise exposition of the orthodox Marxist, Leninist and Stalinist foundations of Soviet thinking on international affairs, but he also examines the important departures from that orthodoxy under Khrushchev and Brezhnev. More important, however, he focuses on the intellectual ferment which characterized the infrastructure of the Soviet foreign policy establishment during the past twenty years … His elegantly written words and powerful expository style enable us to understand better both Soviet thinking and Soviet behaviour in international affairs.'Vernon Aspaturian, Chair of the Shulman Prize Committee, 1987

‘This book comes just at the right moment … [It] is important firstly for the account it provides of changes in methodologies and assumptions, and secondly for its survey of related changes in Soviet views of the world over the last twenty years … This book stands out from previous treatments of the subject by virtue of its author’s talent for distinguishing the essential from the inessential in the sometimes cryptic Soviet literature. It deserves a wide readership.’

Neil Malcolm Source: Soviet Studies