“New Political Thinking”: Concept, Implementation, Results

Within the framework of the “perestroika”, carried out by the Soviet leadership, steps were taken to significantly adjust the foreign policy course of the Soviet Union. The initial goal was to reduce the “degree” of the military and political confrontation with the West, to get rid of costly international commitments. In general, to create favorable external conditions for the implementation of large-scale internal transformations, including in the field of economy. Conceptually, “unorthodox” ideas in the field of foreign policy were formulated in the form of the doctrine of the new political thinking. It envisaged the refusal from deterrence and confrontation in favor of partnership and universal human values. The de-ideologization of foreign policy made it possible to improve the positions of our country in the third world (for example Soviet-Chinese relations were normalized and the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan was ensured on decent terms). At the same time on the western, Euro-Atlantic track important geopolitical positions that our country had as a result of the Great Victory were lost because of ill-conceived, hasty decisions and unjustified concessions. The idea of forming a pan-European house failed. The failure to obtain credible international legally binding guarantees for the non-expansion of NATO to the East in the context of the unification of Germany created a long-term threat to our national security. Meanwhile, the unilateral concessions of the Soviet leadership did not bring about a large scale financial support for the USSR from major Western states. The main flaw of the new political thinking was its abstract nature, ignoring such basic principles of international relations as geopolitics, national interest and security.