Stalin

ministrator, but probably does not offer much competition as a policy maker.

Beria, he said, is a combination of J. Edgar Hoover and Joe McCarthy. He has great power as a "guardian of ideological purity and as a public accuser," but only so long as there is someone to listen to him. Up to now, this person has been Stalin, but without Stalin, Meyer said, Beria's position looks "shaky."

Louis Nemzer, Research associate in the Russian Research Center, feels that should Malenkov gain power it would be much more difficult to "work out a modus vivendi" with the Russians. He called Malonkov a "primitive, crude, isolationist type," pointing out that he has rarely been outside the country and is almost completely ignorant of foreign problems. He also has a reputation for being "the most unpleasant and inaccessible" of the top Soviet leaders, according to Nemzer.

Professor Fainsed gave three main factors which seem to indicate Malenkov's growing strength. The first, he said, was the death in 1948 of Zhdanov, rumored one of Malenkov's main enemies, and the consequent elimination of the Zhdanov faction's power in the party.

The second was the prominent role which Malenkov played at the 19th Party Congress last October.

The third is the rumored recent appointment of "a Malenkov man," S. D. Ignatiov, to the important position as head of the state police. The inference of some observers, Fainsed said, is that this is an indication that Malenkov is invading "Beria's empire."

Bruce C. Hopper, associate professor of Government, said he hopes Molotov, not Malenkov, wins out in the struggle for ultimate leadership. He is much less inclined to "jump the gun" than Malenkov and his leadership would increase the chances of a peaceful settlement of the Cold War, Hopper said.

Almost all experts questioned agreed that the likelihood of Russian aggression as a result of Stalin's death is very slim, mainly because whoever succeeds him will have to be concerned with internal consolidation of power.