There are times when orgainzation and style in dealing with a rival power can be as important as grand strategy. Relations with a great nation like the Soviet Union, with its tortuous history, its cumbersome bureaucratic machinery, and its encompassing and hostile ideology, are not only a matter of formulating correct policies, but of the channels of communication one selects to convey those policies. The history of U.S.-Soviet relations is studded with missed opportunities and missed signals and is characterized consistently by the failure of each nation to understand the others' motivations and purposes. In part, these failures are a result of cultural, psychological, and political differences that make meaningful discourse difficult under the best conditions. Our own system shares power with Congress, which is not always capable of appreciating all the ramifications of foreign affairs problems. We must adjust our policies to influence a fickle press and a flighty, easily bored public opinion. It is thus far more difficult for Soviet 'Americanologists' to grasp the nuances of our politics that it is for our own experts to understand the dynamics of Soviet history. The 'riddle-wrapped' in an enigma is really Washington, not Moscow.

Although political choices have established the thrust of present Soviet weapons procurement policies, these choices and their implementation are conditioned by decisionmaking procedures and organizational relationships. The military maintains a near-monopoly of information and expertise on military affairs. This monopoly, coupled with a generation of alternative policies in military and civilian sectors that is conservative and incremental, requires that non-incremental change be stimulated by intervention from the political leaders. But, in order to preserve its stability, the collective leadership of the past 15 years is also conservative and incrumental. We can therefore expect continuation of present trends until major change is broadly supported by the leadership. (Author).

Transcripts From Soviet Archives, Kremlin Archives, Soviet Village through the eyes of CHEKA - OGPU- NKVD