Misperception, Ambivalence, and Indecision in Soviet Policy-Making : The Case of the 1968 Invasion of Czechoslovakia

The invasion of Czechoslovakia in August 1968 is usually portrayed as a carefully planned operation directed at clearly formulated goals, which eventually resulted in success for Soviet policy in Czechoslovakia. In this article it is argued that present reality makes Soviet policy appear more successful, prescient, rational, coherent, and guided by long-term strategy than it actually was. Hindsight obscures significant ambivalence, confusion, disunity, and ignorance within the ruling circles of the U.S.S.R. on the matter of how to interpret and deal with developments in Czechoslovakia. The decision to intervene is shown to be more the product of a partly autonomous decision-making system than of rational calculation and deliberation among the top Soviet leadership group