Peace Studies as if Soviet Studies Mattered

Students of peace studies and Soviet studies should provide complementary tools or mirrors for interpreting contemporary international politics, and yet, clearly, they are not responding to this call. The seriousness of the intellectual lacunae created by Soviet studies and peace studies scholars working in isolation from each other is addressed in this article in several ways. First, claims about existing differences in the two approaches are established. Second, the constructive, nonoverlapping contributions each approach can make in understanding contemporary Soviet politics are illustrated through a dual annotation of a speech by Gorbachev. Following comments on this particular text made from a peace studies perspective and a Soviet studies perspective, the article addresses particular issues that may be understood more deeply by incorporating the two approaches. In conclusion, an assessment is made of the promise of collaborative work in Soviet studies and peace studies.