This influential study, originally published in 1951, provides insight into the political leadership and foreign policy in the Soviet Union and other communist states; the development of Soviet military strategy and doctrine; and the organization and operation of the Soviet economy. It was the inaugural publication in what was then called 3The RAND Series2 and later became known as RAND1s commercial books series, which aimed to make RAND1s groundbreaking research available to the public. This is a reprint of the original 1951edition.