Andropov and the Dissidents

The changes in the Soviet leadership have been of great interest not only because they represent shifts of emphasis in the U.S.S.R.’s foreign and domestic policies. Considerable attention has also been focused on the relations between the authorities and the various opposition movements.

In our country, changes at the top always bear with them a great many hopes and misgivings. The Brezhnev era with its slogan of “stability,” its prevailing bureaucratic style, and its...