The Changing Soviet Union: Implications for Canada and the World

Gary Hanson is an associate professor of history at the University of
Saskatchewan.

This work, edited by Dobell, director of the Parliamentary Centre for
Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, is based on a major international
conference of 370 analysts, policy-makers, and business leaders held in
Ottawa on November 26-28, 1990. The summary is written in the present
tense to reflect a fresh ambience. Three experts—one Russian, one
European or American, and one Canadian—spoke on each issue. Chapters
discuss topics including the decline of Soviet power and the new Soviet
outlook on world security; an inability to restructure the Soviet
economy and the failure of early attempts to move to a market
orientation; trade and investment prospects for Canadian exporters and
investors; the disintegration of the Soviet Union; the rise of
nationalism and issues of human rights; the role of Western aid; and
future relations between the USSR, Canada, and other Arctic nations.

These conference observations remain both relevant and accurate despite
the onrush of news from the Soviet Union in 1991: the failed August
“coup”; the demise of the Communist party; and the continued
movement for independence in the republics and a promised commonwealth
to replace the Soviet Union. The Canadian participants quoted came
exclusively from Ontario and Quebec. Nevertheless, Canadians made great
contributions to the discussion of the Soviet economy and Soviet trade.
The Canadian perspective provided valuable insight into the passage of
power from the Soviet Union to the republics, as well as into the
Arctic, a unique connection between Canada and the Soviet Union. Both
countries face concerns over aboriginal rights, energy, and ecology.

Two years in the making, the Parliamentary Centre proved fortunate in
the timing of the conference, which coincided with the end of the Cold
War and the end to Soviet control over Central Europe.

This book details the development of a unique Canadian perspective on
these rapid changes in the Soviet Union. It includes useful biographies
of the major conference participants. The Changing Soviet Union deserves
a widespread circulation among the Canadian public.