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Shortcut to Greatness: The New Thinking and the Revolution in Soviet Foreign Policy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 February 2003

Deborah Welch Larson  and
Alexei Shevchenko
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Abstract

Why did Soviet foreign policy change during 1985–1991 from viewing conflict between capitalism and socialism as inevitable to favoring cooperation between states in solving global problems? Neither materialist analyses nor ideational accounts explain why Gorbachev adopted the radical new thinking instead of more conventional reform alternatives. We argue that the new thinking offered a means to enhance Soviet status despite retrenchment and accommodation of the West. By promoting principles underlying a new world order, the Soviet Union could achieve greatness based on the exercise of soft power. This explanation draws on social identity theory, which maintains that people are motivated for their social group to have a distinctive, positive identity. Lower status groups may enhance their perceived standing by finding a new domain for comparison or reevaluating an undesirable trait.

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International Organization , Volume 57 , Issue 1 , Winter 2003 , pp. 77 - 109
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Copyright © The IO Foundation 2003

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