WILL THE SOVIET UNION SURVIVE UNTIL 1984?

by Andrei Amalrik ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 4, 1970

No; that is, if you want to take Amalrik literally. But somewhere in the middle this detached evaluation slips beyond the bounds of prediction and becomes a personal, prophetic vision of doom and destruction. An uncompromising opponent (from ""organic revulsion"") of the Soviet system and the current regime, an abrasive critic of Russian society, the Russian psyche, and even some of his fellow dissidents, Amalrik (a 31-year-old historian and playwright) has had his (relatively brief) stint in Siberia, but, surprisingly, has not been sent for a return visit since this piece made its appearance in Western Europe. The finishing stroke for the Kremlin will be a protracted war with China by 1975 or 1980, but more fundamentally its disease is internal and terminal: increasing bureaucratization, isolation, and stagnation. As the state's potency withers away, the more and more unstable Soviet society will explode in ""anarchy, violence and intense national hatred."" Amalrik departs strikingly from populist romanticism; his masses are dark and threatening, untouched by democratic instincts, egalitarian only in a negative leveling sense, and imbued with a terrible potential for violence. The only possible positive counterforce to this decade-long scenario of disintegration and collapse could come from the weak middle-class elements, whose efforts at a Democratic Movement do not, however, promise the requisite widespread dynamism and commitment. Commentaries by Slavic Professor Sidney Monas and veteran correspondent Henry Kamm illuminate the essay's content and also its context, of more significance than the particulars of its morbid forecast.

Pub Date: March 4, 1970

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Harper & Row

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1970

Categories: NONFICTION