Lynne Rienner Nicolae Ceausescu: A Political Biography

Under the leadership of Nicolae Ceausescu, Romania repeatedly failed to follow Soviet guidelines in COMECON and the Warsaw Pact, at the UN and in interbloc negotiations. In addition, Ceausescu established himself firmly in control of Romania's internal political system and created around himself and his family a cult of personality similar to those of Stalin and Mao. Despite this apparently total control of the Romanian political system, he was not able to achieve a number of major policy objectives, most notably in the economic sphere. Seeking the factors that account for Ceausescu's remarkable abilities in foreign policy, his consummate skill in maintaining control of the political system and his concurrent economic disasters, Professor Fischer examines in detail his personal background before World War II, his development as a party official and particularly, his methods of rule since 1965.