The Soviet Union at the Beginning of a New Era

Abstract

It has become obvious to everyone that with the autumn of 1982 the Soviet Union entered into a new phase in its development, a phase which will differ substantially from the dreary Brezhnev era which has just concluded. We stand on the threshold of a new era, and this gives rise to a national desire to take a look back, even if only a cursory one, at the past and to review the main features of the path our country has traversed during the last few decades.