Initial drafts of the articles selected for publication in this volume were chosen from among those presented at the Fourth World Congress of the International Council for Soviet and East European Studies, held in Harrogate, England, July 1990. The articles focus on aspects of Soviet policy toward Northern and East-Central Europe, as well as Soviet policy toward the developing countries. As much as the editors would have wished to have provided more comprehensive global coverage of Soviet foreign policy – for example, including Western Europe and North America – contributions of publishable quality in these areas simply were not made available to them.

The chapters that follow are divided into four parts. The first section examines major trends in the current policy of the USSR. The four chapters that comprise part two assess changes in the Soviet–East European relationship, as well as Soviet policy toward Northern Europe and on the general issue of foreign policy neutrality. The third and fourth parts of the book deal with Soviet policy toward the developing countries and present both general overviews of shifts in Soviet policy, as well as more specific regional and country case studies.

The editors wish to express their appreciation to all who have facilitated the preparation of this volume. These include, first of all, the authors of individual chapters and those whose comments at the Harrogate Congress resulted in improvements in the original manuscripts prepared for presentation at the Congress.