This book examines Soviet Foreign Policy towards East Germany in the late 1980s. By focusing on
the complex interaction between domestic political thought and developments in the
international system the author illustrates the hierarchical relationship between the GDR and
the USSR and offers different perspectives for understanding Soviet foreign policy. The books
demonstrates that shifts in Soviet policy towards the GDR stemmed on the one hand from the
international level in that Soviet security was legitimated by the existence of two
full-fledged German states and on the other may be best explained in terms of ideas and
Gorbachev's new political philosophy.
