Influence of Soviet and American Political Culture on Negotiating Positions: The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Force Case

摘要

This thesis explores the influences of the underlying political culture of the Soviet Union and the United States on the positions of those governments at the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Force Negotiations. It defines the term political culture as the conceptual framework within which politics operates. The thesis then discusses the historical evolution and primary characteristics of the elite political cultures of both nations. In the process of this a cultural model, or stereotype of the political elite of each nation is postulated. This model is then utilized to evaluate the negotiating positions of each country from a cultural standpoint. Finally, the thesis concludes that political culture probably does influence the positions of governments and may be a useful method of evaluating those positions and predicting future actions. In addition, the thesis sees a possibility of utilizing political culture as one method of determining the importance of those positions to the governments involved.