Stalin's Successors: Leadership, Stability and Change in the Soviet Union

by Seweryn Bialer

This book provides a comprehensive overview of the ways in which the structure and process of Soviet politics have been transformed since Stalin's death, and particularly during the years of the Brezhnev regime. In explaining the Soviet Union's political stability, the author analyzes the Soviet combination of harsh authoritarian rule with political flexibility in the treatment of its citizens, and he describes the social processes that contribute to this stability. He also analyzes the Soviet perception of the current international situation and discusses trends in Soviet foreign policy, including the imbalance between military power on the one hand and political, economic, ideological, and cultural resources on the other. Professor Bialer explains the Soviet concept of détente and explores the difference between Soviet and American perceptions of this process. A major part of the work is devoted to an examination of the imminent succession of the Soviet leadership. The book gives a profile of the new generation of potential leaders and identifies the characteristics that make them different form those whom they will replace. The Soviet leadership, while embroiled in its succession struggle, will have to make difficult decisions concerning the allocation of national resources and overall changes in management, planning, and incentives. Professor Bialer concludes by analyzing the kinds of economic reform that could make the problems manageable and the conditions under which the new Soviet leadership will need to institute reforms.

Genres: Russia

324 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1980

Reviews

[Austin Barselau · Rating 3 out of 5]

STALIN’S SUCCESSORS is a 1980 theoretical treatise on the post-Stalinist evolution of the Soviet system. Seweryn Bialer, the late Professor of Political Science at Columbia University, models the interrelationship of leadership, stability, and change as the Soviet Union transitioned from the extremes of Stalinism to the normalcy and technocratic stability of the Brezhnev era. Bialer’s analytical framework captures both the structures and processes for reform during the 1970s, including the radical decline of revolutionary politics and the rise of an epoch characterized by unparalleled bureaucratic stability, consensus, and participatory politics. Bialer demonstrates how the calm and constancy of the post-Stalinist era also invited certain destabilizing conditions regarding political organization, economic welfare, and foreign policy. For example, Brezhnev’s two-decade long rule left little thought of political succession, which became an issue after his death. Impending crises around demographics, energy, and nationalism within the union signaled brewing discontent that would likely register in the 1980s. The Soviet Union’s increasing self-assertiveness in global affairs, including its interventions in Third World disputes, was considered destabilizing, myopic, and paranoid. Bialer’s articulation of post-Stalin politics reveals an empire at a local maximum – stable and moderately prosperous, but also faced with challenging questions about its continued fitness in absence of meaningful reform.