Getting It Wrong?

Comments on the direction taken by Western Sovietology over the past few decades that allowed it to be completely surprised by the recent coup attempt and subsequent changes in the Soviet Union. Misreading the influence of democratic centralism, which President Mikhail Gorbachev exploited; Ignoring the disintegration of the state; Failing to recognize the common-sense distinction between different political systems and regimes; Social science; The KGB; Details.