Promoting the Peaceful Decolonization of the Soviet Union

Publication Date: July 1990

Publisher: Heritage Foundation (Washington, D.C.)

Author(s): Douglas Seay

Research Area: International relations

Keywords: Russia and Eurasia

Type: Report

Coverage: Soviet Union

Abstract:

As East European communist regimes fell in the revolutions of 1989, Soviet control over the region was swept away. Most of these countries now have elected democratic governments and are moving toward market economies and close ties with the West. Building on these dramatic breakthroughs, the United States and its European allies are trying to consolidate the West's gains and to preserve stability in Europe. Yet an even greater upheaval is looming in the Soviet Union itself, brought about by the same processes that transformed Eastern Europe. Helping to ensure that these changes occur peacefully is an urgent priority for both the U.S. and the West as a whole.