Sovietology—the study of all matters that offer an understanding of the meaning of current, politically significant Soviet-communist behavior and aid in forecasting its future course—is fully discussed in this unique collection of articles which originally appeared in the British journal Survey.
The West possessed little accurate knowledge of Russia and Eastern Europe until the two world wars gave impetus to research and instruction in Slavic affairs. Today, “Russia's business is the world's business,” and the authors discuss the origins, present state, and goals of Soviet studies for the purpose of emphasizing their importance, advocating greater expansion and diversity of knowledge in this field, and encouraging improved research in these areas. They examine the various strengths and weaknesses of Soviet studies in the United States, Britain, France, and Germany; point out the difficulties encountered in pursuing these studies00erstwhile lack of interest, the language barrier, Government suppression of facts, and the wealth of deceptive information readily available.
The importance of these studies—which include language, literature, past history, current events, political theory, philosophy, sociology, geography—for the Western world cannot be overemphasized; The State of Soviet Studies offers an excellent starting point and guidance.