Living Off the West

Nowhere has the argument that Gorbachev is an opportunistic pseudo-reformer been delivered so lucidly as in this tough-minded critique, free of reactionary cant. Political analyst Sanders ( Mexico: Chaos on Our Doorstep ) argues that Gorbachev's primary aim is to shore up an ``intrinsically stagnant'' system through a huge transfer of technology and capital from the West. The Soviet leader, whose classmates in law school believed him to be an informer for the secret police, is portrayed as a classic party apparatchik, a professional politician adept at charming the West, ``the most powerful dictator backed by pseudo-constitutional trappings since Stalin.'' Sanders makes a forceful case that Soviet dependence on Western technology has been greatly underestimated. He is apprehensive about German reunification and Bonn's plans to aid Moscow on a massive scale. (Aug.)