Soviet Foreign Policy towards Her European Allies: Interests and Instruments

Abstract

Neumann, I. B. Soviet Foreign Policy towards Her European Allies: Interests and Instruments. Cooperation and Conflict, XXIII, 1988, 215-229.

The aim of this article is to construct a taxonomy for possible Soviet interests towards the CMEA 6, then to discuss what foreign policy instruments the Soviet Union disposes of, and finally to assess whether Soviet instruments are capable of fulfilling Soviet interests. Soviet interests are far-reaching. She wants to have the CMEA 6 as a buffer against aggression, and to prevent CMEA 6 complicity in invasion. Her role as the leader of one of the two main military alliances in the world underlines her status as a superpower. At home, the legitimacy of the communist regime is enhanced by there being other countries which employ the Soviet model. Effective Soviet foreign policy instruments are indeed limited. The military instruments at her disposal can only be used at very high political cost, whereas economic subsidies make up an economic cost. The Soviet Union still depends critically on the actual use of force and on the threat of use of force in her relations with the CMEA 6. As the long-term costs of using military foreign policy instruments are considerable, the prospects for Soviet interest fulfilment towards the CMEA 6 are poor.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Adomeit, H. 1982. Soviet Risk-Taking and Crisis Behavior. A Theoretical and Empirical Analysis. London: Allen & Unwin, Studies of the Russian Institute , Columbia University.

Anderson, P. 1974. Lineages of the Absolutist State. London: NLB.

Bialer, S. & Afferica, J. 1984. Andropov's Burden: Socialist Stagnation and Communist Encirclement. Adelphi Papers 189, 13-30.

Bromke, A. 1984. Four Stages or Five or More? Eastern Europe in the 1980's . Coexistence XXI, 137-165.

Brown, J.F. 1975. Relations between the Soviet Union and its East European Allies: A Survey. Santa Monica, CA: The Rand Corporation, Report R-1742-PR.

Brown, J.F. 1987. Soviet Interests and Policies in Eastern Europe , pp. 43-72 in R. D. Vine (ed.) Soviet-East European Relations as a Problem for the West. London: Croom Helm, The Atlantic Institute for International Affairs.

Brzezinski, Z. 1984. The Soviet Union: Her Aims, Problems and Challenges to the West. Adelphi Papers 189, 3-12.

Charlton, M. 1984. The Eagle and the Small Birds. Crisis in the Soviet Empire: From Yalta to Solidarity (Oral history). Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.

Davies, N. 1985. Heart of Europe: A Short History of Poland. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

10.

Erickson, J. 1981. The Warsaw Pact — the Shape of Things to Come?, pp. 148-171 in K. Dawisha & P. Hanson (eds.) Soviet-East European Dilemmas: Coercion, Competition and Consent. London: Heinemann, Royal Institute of International Affairs .

11.

Galtung, J. 1975. Social Imperialism and Sub-Imperialism: Continuities in the Structural Theory of Imperialism. World Indicators Program no. 7. Peace Research Institute of Oslo.

12.

Gerner, K. 1985. The Soviet Union and Central Europe in the Post-War Era: A Study in Precarious Security. Aldershot: Gower.

13.

Gorbachev, M.S. 1987. Perestroyka i novoe myshlenie dlja nashey strany i dlja vsego mira. Moscow: Politizdat .

14.

Holsti, K.J. 1977. International Politics. A Framework for Analysis . Englewoods Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall .

15.

Klinghoffer, A.J. 1977. The Soviet Union & International Oil Politics . New York, NY: Columbia University Press.

16.

Konrád, G. 1984. Antipolitics. An Essay. San Diego, CA: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.

17.

Korbonski, A. 1984. Soviet Policy toward Poland, pp. 61-92 in S. M. Terry (ed.) Soviet Policy in Eastern Europe. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, Council on Foreign Relations.

18.

Kubalkova, V. & Cruickshank, A.A. 1980. Marxism-Leninism and Theory of International Relations London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.

19.

Linden, R.H. 1982. The Security Bind in East Europe. International Studies Quarterly XXVI, 155-189.

20.

Luttwak, E. 1986. The New Dynamics of the Soviet Empire: From Optimism to Pessimism, pp. 49-65 in R. F. Laird & E. P. Hoffmann (eds.) Soviet Foreign Policy in a Changing World. New York, NY: Aldine.

21.

Mackintosh, M. 1981. Military Considerations in Soviet-East European Relations , pp. 134-147 in K. Dawisha & P. Hanson (eds.) Soviet-East European Dilemmas: Coercion, Competition and Consent. London: Heinemann, Royal Institute of International Affairs .

22.

Mlynář, Z. 1980. Nightfrost in Prague. The End of Humane Socialism . London: C. Hurst.

23.

Neumann, I.B. 1988. Penetration and Petroleum. Soviet Interest Fulfilment towards the CMEA 6. Oslo: The Fridtjof Nansen Institute, Report R:001-1988.

24.

Neumann, I.B. forthcoming. Soviet Foreign Policy towards Her European Allies: A Model . Nordic Journal of Soviet and East European Studies V.

25.

Moreton, E. 1981. Foreign Policy Perspectives in Eastern Europe, pp. 172-194 in K. Dawisha & P. Hanson (eds.) Soviet-East European Dilemmas: Coercion, Competition and Consent. London: Heinemann, Royal Institute of International Affairs .

26.

Shenfield, S. 1987. The Nuclear Predicament. Explorations in Soviet Ideology . London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, Royal Institute of International Affairs , Chatham House Papers no. 37.

27.

Stem, J.P. 1987. Soviet Oil and Gas Exports to the West. London: Gower, Royal Institute of International Affairs, Energy Papers no. 21.

28.

Tiersky, R. 1985. Ordinary Stalinism. Democratic Centralism and the Question of Communist Political Development. London: Allen & Unwin.

29.

Valenta, J. 1984. Soviet Policy toward Hungary and Czechoslovakia , pp. 93-124 in S. M. Terry (ed.) Soviet Policy in Eastern Europe. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, Council on Foreign Relations .

30.

Wallerstein, I. 1979. Det moderne verdenssystem. Oslo: Gyldendal.

31.

Wittram, R. 1973. Russia and Europe. London: Thames & Hudson.

32.

Zimmerman, W. 1984. Soviet Relations with Yugoslavia and Romania, pp. 125-154 in S. M. Terry (ed.) Soviet Policy in Eastern Europe. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, Council on Foreign Relations .