Many changes are taking place in the Soviet Union. How deep, extensive, and permanent these changes are will determine how the United States will respond to Soviet domestic and foreign behavior. A correct assessment of the pace and depth of Soviet change is needed to separate rhetoric from reality, the cosmetic from the fundamental, and the transitory from the lasting in what has become the extremely fluid situation of Mikhail Gorbachev's Soviet Union. To guide U.S. policy makers, a set of criteria are required for evaluating developments in the Soviet Union. In general, the U.S. response to perestroika and glasnost should rest on how far and fast the Soviet Union moves toward a more humane and more democratic society that is less threatening to the U.S. and the West.
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