This collection of essays points up the essential dilemma Gorbachev faces in Siberia-whether to continue stressing "guns over growth." In order to balance China, Japan and the United States while projecting Soviet military power in the Pacific, Brezhnev militarized Siberia. As a result, economic development was deferred. In capital, infrastructure and labor force, there continues to be a huge gap between what is needed and what is available for Siberian development. For the Soviet Union to change its policy and stress Siberian economic development there would have to be a substantial reduction of tensions with China, Japan and the United States and some fundamental changes in Soviet policy toward the entire Pacific region. The book contains a good deal of solid information on Siberia.
