My country and the world

Fülszöveg

Current Affairs
A strong and controversial book from the leading political dissident still living—and speaking out—in the Soviet Union. Clear-minded, bold, and persistent, a man of great humanity and intellectual courage, Andrei Sakharov has made it his duty to speak honestly and bravely from within about his country's failings. In this profoundly important and moving essay, Sakharov considers the largest fact of modern international diplomacy—détente—and the dangers it poses to hopes of reform in the USSR.
He begins with a penetrating survey of Soviet internal problems, from low living standards and rampant alcoholism to economic stagnation and "super-militarization." There is an effective attack on the Soviet backing of foreign dictatorships and of genocidal policies against such minorities as the Kurds in Iraq and the Ibo in Nigeria, and an informed examination of the complex issues clouding disarmament. But his strongest words are directed at the Soviet government's efforts... Tovább

Fülszöveg

Current Affairs
A strong and controversial book from the leading political dissident still living—and speaking out—in the Soviet Union. Clear-minded, bold, and persistent, a man of great humanity and intellectual courage, Andrei Sakharov has made it his duty to speak honestly and bravely from within about his country's failings. In this profoundly important and moving essay, Sakharov considers the largest fact of modern international diplomacy—détente—and the dangers it poses to hopes of reform in the USSR.
He begins with a penetrating survey of Soviet internal problems, from low living standards and rampant alcoholism to economic stagnation and "super-militarization." There is an effective attack on the Soviet backing of foreign dictatorships and of genocidal policies against such minorities as the Kurds in Iraq and the Ibo in Nigeria, and an informed examination of the complex issues clouding disarmament. But his strongest words are directed at the Soviet government's efforts to control and dominate its own citizenry, forbidding rights as basic as the freedom to emigrate. The Jackson amendment, which made trade between the United States and the Soviet Union contingent upon guarantees of the right to emigrate, thus receives Sakharov's strong support.
My Country and the World is a defense of humane principles emerging miraculously from a virtually closed society, a deeply thoughtful and vivid testament to reason in a time shaken by unreason. Andrei Sakharov describes himself as "a confirmed evolutionist and reformist"; this is his essential work.
Vissza