Institutional Change and Soviet National Security Policy

Abstract

This chapter examines institutional change in the Soviet defense, foreign policy, and military-industrial establishments in the post-Brezhnev period. It assesses the probable impact of this change on Soviet national security policy and the policy process, estimates the present direction and rate of change, and considers some of the long-term institutional constraints on policymaking. The institutional changes and prospective reforms of planning and prices discussed at the plenum called for a transformation of the control functions of Gosplan and of some civilian economic ministries, eventual elimination of much centralized management and planning, and reliance upon independent enterprise decision making. The institutional changes proposed at the June plenum, though directed primarily toward the civilian economy, were so sweeping in intent and potentially destabilizing in the short run that they have broad implications for Soviet national security extending beyond the military-industrial complex. Significant to radical change characterizes the institutional restructuring of the Soviet foreign policy establishment.