THIS book is a collection of state-

ments made between March and October 1985, since my election as

General Secretary of the Communist Party Central Committee. Its

content represents my own and my colleagues ideas, arising from

reflections on the past and the present, a contemplation of the

future, and from talks with very different people: factory managers

and workers, farmers and scientists, politicians from other coun-

tries, my friends, and my critics.

This book naturally reflects this particular historical moment,

which not only prompts, but, at times, dictates a definite approach

to problems facing the Soviet Union, as well as ways of seeking

their solution. But the present is so packed with events and changes

that sometimes even a single day may be equivalent to a whole

epoch in terms of the scope of decisions that have to be made and of

the significance of what must be accomplished for present and

future generations. This is convincingly demonstrated by the expe-

rience of any country.

To a considerable extent, this complex decision-making proc-

ess is also true of the domestic tasks facing our state which com-

mand the attention of the Soviet Union s leadership. We have major

achievements as well as quite a few unresolved problems, some of

which are quite serious. I shall not list them here, as they are dealt

with in sufficient detail in this book. I wish to stress only that a

country which has set itself the primary task of raising its people s

standard of living and quality of life cannot but have a vital stake in

peace, in tranquil and normal international affairs, and in mutually

advantageous cooperation. Our foreign policy is an organic and

logical extension of our domestic policy.

The present-day world situation causes grave anxiety among

our people. I believe that these apprehensions are shared by many

Americans. Mankind now faces the most crucial choice in civiliza-

tion s history; a cl~ ice that must be made today, before it is too late.

It is a choice between further straining international tensions or

relaxing them, between escalating the arms race to cosmic propor-