EDUARD SHEVARDNADZE: LEADING THE SOVIET UNION OUT OF THE COLD WAR

In: International journal / Canadian Institute of International Affairs, Band 52, Heft 2, S. 219-242

Abstract

EDUARD SHEVARDNADZE PLAYED A CRITICAL ROLE IN CONCEPTUALIZING AND IMPLEMENTING THE SOVIET UNION'S FOREIGN POLICY IN THE LATE 1980'S. CONSIDERED THE MORAL FORCE BEHIND THE "NEW POLITICAL THINKING," SHEVARDNADZE WAS THE POINT MAN IN THE STRUGGLE TO UNDERMINE THE FORCES OF INERTIA AT HOME AND TO END MOSCOW'S ISOLATION ABROAD. COMMITMENT TO NOT USING FORCE WAS SHEVARDNADZE'S MOST IMPORTANT CONTRIBUTION TO THE END OF COMMUNISM AND THE COLD WAR, PERMITTING THE VIRTUALLY NONVIOLENT DEMISE OF THE SOVIET EMPIRE AND THE SOVIET UNION ITSELF.