Inside the Apparat:

Perspectives on the Soviet Union from Former Functionaries

Published just before the implosion of the USSR and the sudden access to material concerning the modus operandi of the CPSU leadership, the work draws upon Oral History interviews in depth with former Soviet functionaries, particularly from the security services. It examines the Soviet "Apparat" in its various capacities and operations, international as well as domestic, shedding light upon the policy formation process. The interviewees provide unusual insight into aspects of Soviet behavior that have been examined rarely.

Table of Contents

Introduction

Biographical Profiles of Interviewees

1. Careers, Appointments, Promotions, Dismissals, and Alignments:
The Personal Factor
Career Beginnings: Nepotism
Party Membership
Appointments and Promotions at the Top
Factions
Nomenklatura

2. Foci of Power
The Triangular Power Structure
The Party and the State
The Party Structure
The State Defense Council
Party Oversight
The Security Apparatus

3. Exoteric and Esoteric Communications
Channels of Communication
The Message
Communications with Allies
Esoteric Communications

4. International Relations Decision Making
Locus of Decision Making
Categories of Decisions
Shaping the Agenda for Decisions on International Affairs
Foreign Policy "Constituencies," Particularly the Military
Communicating Decisions
Oversight

5. Direct and Indirect Implementation:
The Role of Allies, Surrogates, Clients, and Fronts
Implementation of Policy Decisions by Soviet Personnel
Implementation by Allies
Implementation by Surrogates

6. The Soviet Union, Its Allies and Other Partners:
Coordination, Control and Dissonance
Eastern Europe
Cuba
Africa

7. Soviet Analysis and Perceptions of International Developments:
Apparatus and Concepts of Policy
Perceptions and Actions
Misjudgments
Soviet Perceptions: Europe
Soviet Perceptions: The Middle East, Africa, and Latin America
Soviet and East European Views of Other States under Communist Leadership
Soviet Institutes
Ideology and its Effect on Analysis
Strategic Precepts and Perceptions
Shifting Priorities of Soviet Foreign Policy