This comprehensive new study investigates the evolution of Soviet foreign policy from the Revolution of 1917 until the end of the Soviet era, tracing the origins and characteristics of Soviet external strategies from their Marxist-Leninist roots through to the collapse of Communism. Based on a wide range of sources, including Russian materials that have become available since the end of the Cold War, this book emphasizes the factional nature of decision-making over external strategies and describes the competing strains of Soviet thinking about the outside world.