The Global Rivals

In a succinct, probing analysis of U.S.-Soviet relations, a companion volume to an upcoming PBS-TV series, Bialer ( The Soviet Paradox ), director of the Research Institute for International Change at Columbia University, and Mandelbaum ( The Fate of Nations ), fellow of the Council on Foreign Relations, trace the post-WW I and WW II roots of animosity fed by misunderstandings, failed policies and a common sense of national mission, and discuss the external and domestic influences on both nations that promote their new rapport. Most promising, the authors show, are the radical changes in priorities and attitudes of Reagan and Gorbachev, the latter's reforms spurred by economic necessity and demands of certain groups that challenge him to liberalize without losing control. Despite the differences in their social, economic and political systems, human rights positions and conflicting geopolitical interests, but because of the nuclear threat, the rivals are being forced to coexist, note the authors. They predict that conflicts between the two nations may moderate and even permit cooperation on issues of mutual concern, like nuclear proliferation, terrorism and Islamic fundamentalism. (October)