Foreign Relations of the United States, 1981–1988, Volume V, Soviet Union, March 1985–October 1986

109. Memorandum From the President’s Assistant for National Security Affairs (McFarlane) to President Reagan¹

Washington, undated

SUBJECT

• Papers on the Soviet Union: Soviet Instruments of Control

You have previously read two groups of papers, dealing with the sources of Soviet behavior and the problems of Soviet society. Those attached here deal with the principal instruments by which the top Communist Party leadership controls the society.²

The Soviet Union, of course, has a governmental structure which in theory is not much different from that in other countries, except that there is literally no private sector. Everything, from farms to schools to factories to banks to sporting clubs, is administered by the government. The government even has a department which oversees those churches which are allowed to operate legally. The formal government, however, though omnipresent, merely administers the country. It is in fact subordinate to the Communist Party, which uses it to implement policy the Party sets, and in fact is run by persons who are themselves Party members and subject to Party discipline. The whole country is run by a chain of “interlocking directorates” which receive decisions from above and are expected to implement them with total discipline.

The lines of real authority, therefore, run top-down from the Communist Party leadership, with the ultimate policy makers being the thirteen full members of the party Politburo. Though the Communist Party calls itself a political party, it is of course totally unlike anything we would call a political party. It is not made up of private citizens who join together to campaign and try to win elections, but of a co-opted elite group, selected on the basis of loyalty and discipline, whose function is to see to it that the policies set by the top leadership are implemented throughout the society. Even the Soviet Constitution, which sounds very liberal in theory, provides that the Communist Party will be the “leading core” of all organizations, whether governmental or “non-governmental.” Not even a sporting society or a chess club can be organized without the sufferance and supervision of Communist Party officials.

The paper at Tab A describes how the Communist Party is organized and how it applies its control to the society.³ Over the decades of communist rule in Russia, a new controlling elite has formed under Communist Party auspices, usually called the nomenklatura: those persons who occupy supervisory, influential or prominent positions, and whose appointment therefore requires the approval of higher party authority.

The nomenklatura forms the privileged class in the Soviet Union, those who enjoy a significantly higher standard of living than their compatriots, and also the trappings and perquisites of authority. It shows a tendency of becoming hereditary, since members use their connections to get their children into the best schools and into nomenklatura jobs. It also has an international aspect, since similar elite classes have been created in those countries under Soviet domination, with the result that—for example—the nomenklatura in Czechoslovakia tends to identify its interests with the nomenklatura of the Soviet Union, not with their fellow Czechs and Slovaks. (It is a bit like the aristocracy in seventeenth and eighteenth century Europe, which tended to support each other across national boundaries if there was a challenge from within to the rule of the aristocracy.) The paper at Tab B describes how it is organized and how it operates in the Soviet Union.⁴

In many ways, the Soviet Union is run more like an organized criminal organization in the West than like a government. Using this analogy, one can say that if the Party forms the control elite, the secret police (KGB) and the military are its “enforcers,” the first in a direct sense, and the second as a reserve if things ever threaten to get out of hand. Both institutions are totally controlled by the Communist Party, and provide the muscle if physical coercion is required. Papers describing these two institutions are at Tabs C and D.⁵

Recommendation

That you read the papers attached as general background for your upcoming meeting with Gorbachev.⁶

1. Source: Reagan Library, Jack Matlock Files, Chronological File, 1980–1986, Matlock Chron September 1985 (6/6). Secret. Sent for information. Drafted by Matlock. The memorandum is unsigned. A copy was sent to Bush. Matlock forwarded the draft memorandum and the attached papers to McFarlane on September 30.
2. See Documents 39 and 79. Under a September 10 covering memorandum to Shultz, McFarlane forwarded six papers and wrote: “They were put together by Jack Matlock with input from INR and CIA analysts. Though they are not particularly sensitive in themselves, the fact that they were used for briefing the President is, and I would appreciate your holding them closely.” (Reagan Library, Jack Matlock Files, Chronological File, 1980–1986, Matlock Chron September 1985 (1/6))
3. Tab A, “The Communist Party of the Soviet Union,” is attached but not printed.
4. Tab B, “Nomenklatura: The USSR Patronage System,” is attached but not printed.
5. Tab C, “The Soviet Political Police,” and Tab D, “The Soviet Military,” are attached but not printed.
6. Reagan did not indicate his approval or disapproval of the recommendation.