Conclusion

Abstract

None of the developments described in Chapters 3 to 7 had been anticipated in 1985, at the point at which this book commences. No political analyst, secret service, academic or other specialist predicted the disappearance of Mikhail Gorbachev, the dismantling of the Soviet Union, the fall of the Berlin Wall and the overthrow of ruling Communist Parties. The political, economic and social changes which followed in their wake transformed the lives of millions with astonishing rapidity. It is something of a surprise to realise that after all this the Russian Orthodox Church is still recognisably the same institution.