Introducing George Michael Evica's "A Certain Arrogance"

[Charles Drago]

Gorbachev's campaign of reform did not arise ex nihilo, but was firmly rooted within the divisions within the Soviet elite of the late 1940s and early 1950s.
Paul

Much to think about here.

For the moment, know that your sense of divisions within ostensibly monolithic constructs is key to understanding the deeper political complexities of broader (hemispheric, etc.) ideological conflicts.

An example: To view post-revolutionary Cuba as an ideologically coherent state is to misapprehend -- fatally -- the forces whose conflicting agendas and the battles they engendered remain the focus of our attention now.