Generational Learning and Conflict Management

Abstract

Until March of 1985, one of the themes most frequently touched upon by students of the Soviet Union was the advanced age of the Soviet leadership. Prior to Brezhnev's death, the average age of the Politburo was seventy-one. Under Andropov and Chernenko the Soviet Union continued to be run by a gerontocracy wedded to traditional and demonstrably ineffective programmes in almost all important policy areas. With the accession to power of Mikhail Gorbachev, aged 54, a much younger generation of Soviet leaders has come to the fore. The passing of the old guard has prompted widespread expectations of major changes in Soviet domestic and foreign policy. Westerners would do well to consider their own situation.