Stalin's Economic Advisors: The Varga Institute and the Making of Soviet Foreign Policy

Soviet foreign policy in the Stalin era is commonly assumed to have been a direct product of either Marxist ideology or the leader's whims. Both assumptions, however, oversimplify the complex and subtle factors involved in its creation and implementation. Kyung-Deok Roh provides an alternative, more nuanced, explanation and demonstrates the key role played by Stalin's economic advisors.

The so-called 'Varga Institute' , a 'think tank' led by Evgenii Varga, developed a unique scholarly disco...