Are Things Really Improving in the USSR?

Michel Tatu, the distinguished French expert on Soviet affairs, ended his recently published Power in the Kremlin with a cautious prediction concerning the future political development of the USSR: either there will be “a return to undisputed one-man rule” or “the collective will have to be broadened and eventually accept true democratization.” As an experienced observer of the Soviet scene M. Tatu is well aware of the pitfalls surrounding the prophet, yet his final conclusion is unequivocal: “Whichever the solution—totalitarianism under one-man rule, or an extended parliamentary system—major transformations will have to take place.”

Most commentators tend, on the whole, to agree with this conclusion. Certain variations on the theme are sometimes introduced, such as the possibility of a Bonapartist military dictatorship taking over from the party. Nor should one overlook the occasional forecast of a complete collapse of the Soviet system—predicted, in at least one instance, with great precision for 1970.

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Tibor Szamuely

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Michel Tatu, the distinguished French expert on Soviet affairs, ended his recently published Power in the Kremlin with a cautious prediction concerning the future political development of the USSR: either there will be “a return to undisputed one-man rule” or “the collective will have to be broadened and eventually accept true democratization.” As an experienced observer of the Soviet scene M. Tatu is well aware of the pitfalls surrounding the prophet, yet his final conclusion is unequivocal: “Whichever the solution—totalitarianism under one-man rule, or an extended parliamentary system—major transformations will have to take place.”

Most commentators tend, on the whole, to agree with this conclusion. Certain variations on the theme are sometimes introduced, such as the possibility of a Bonapartist military dictatorship taking over from the party. Nor should one overlook the occasional forecast of a complete collapse of the Soviet system—predicted, in at least one instance, with great precision for 1970.