Soviet Foreign Policy in Africa and Latin America: A Comparative Case Study

V. Zagladin , 'World Balance of Forces and the Development of International Relations (Aspects of Theory and Methodology)', International Affairs (Moscow) (No. 3, 1985), p. 67.

A recent example of such an interpretation of Soviet foreign policy is Richard F. Staar's USSR Foreign Policies After Detente (Stanford, CA: Hoover Institution Press, 1985).

Often such works are put together in an edited volume. The best among these include: R. Craig Nation and Mark V. Kauppi (eds.), The Soviet Impact in Africa (Lexington, MA: D.C. Heath and Co., 1984); Robert H. Donaldson (ed.), The Soviet Union and the Third World: Successes and Failures (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1981); W. Raymond Duncan (ed.), Soviet Policy in the Third World ( New York: Praeger, 1980); and Roger E. Kanet (ed.), The Soviet Union and the Developing Nations (Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1974).

For a recent book length treatment see Jerry F. Hough , The Struggle for rhe Third World: Soviet Debates and American Options ( Washington, DC: Brookings Institution, 1985).

There are of course notable exceptions, by far the best of which is Bruce D. Porter's The USSR in Third World Conflicts: Soviet Arms and Diplomacy in Local Wars 1945-1980 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1984). Also see Stephen T. Hosmer and Thomas W. Wolfe , Soviet Policy and Practice Toward Third World Conflicts (Lexington, MA: Lexington Books, 1983), and Elizabeth Valkenier , The Soviet Union and the Third World: An Economic Bind (New York: Praeger, 1983), and Cole Blasier , The Giant's Rival: The USSR and Latin America (Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1983). Blasier's book received a fairly positive review by I.I. lanchuk in Latinskuia Amerika (No. 2, 1985), PP. 117-19.

Even the Horn of Africa and the Middle East rank below Asia on the Soviet foreign policy agenda. See David E. Albright , 'The Middle East and Africa in Recent Soviet Policy', in Roger E. Kanet (ed.), Soviet Foreign Policy in the 1980v (New York: Praeger, 1982 ), p. 288, and Gerald Segal (ed.), The Soviet Union in East Asia: Predicaments of Power (London: Heinemann, 1983), p. 1.

R. Judson Mitchell states that 'the party is in a uniquely favorable position to legitimize its own behavior through its control of the language of ideological revision'. Ideology of a Superpower: Contemporary Soviet Doctrine on International Relations (Stanford, CA: Hoover Institution Press, 1982), p. 8.

See E. Primakov , 'Strany sotsialisticheskoi orientatsii: trudnyi no real'nyi perekhod k sotsializmu', MEMO (No. 7, 1981). For a dictionary definition of the concept see abc. Political Terms: A Short Guide (Moscow : Novosti, 1982), pp. 78-9, and for a recent Western interpretation see Thomas J. Zamostny , 'Moscow and the Third World: Recent Trends in Soviet Thinking', Soviet Studies (Vol. 36, No. 2, April 1984 ), pp. 223-35.

Yu.V. Irkhin , 'Avangardnye revolyutsionnye partii trudiashchikhsia v osvobodivshikhsiastranakh', Voprosy Istorii (No. 4, 1982), pp. 55-57.

See The Times, 17 February 1951.

For an elaboration on this theme see Christopher Clapham , 'The Soviet Union and the Horn of Africa', paper presented at the workshop on the Soviet Union and the Third World, at the ECPR Joint Sessions , Barcelona, March 1985.

See International Affairs (Moscow) (No. 12, 1956), pp. 98-9; Ibid. (No. 2, 1957), pp. 133-6; and Ibid (No. 5, 1957), pp. 135-7.

On the research institutes, their role and development, see Oded Eran , Mezhdunarodniki (Ramet Gan, Israel: Turtledove, 1979), and Neil Malcolm , Soviet Political Scientists and American Politics (London: Macmillan, 1984), esp. pp. 1-18, and 109-30. For an analysis of the work of the Latin American Institute see Cole Blasier , 'The Soviet Latin Americanists', Latin American Research Review {Vol. 16, 1983), pp. 107-23, also reprinted in his The Giant's Rival, op. cit., pp. 171-90.

This is not to suggest that Latin America was ignored, but rather to point out that actual events in Africa led the Soviet leadership to view Latin America in a generally less promising light. The overthrow of Batista in Cuba led to are-evaluation of the revolutionary potential in South America - see V. Levin , 'Latin America on the March', International Relations (Moscow) (No. 10, 1959), pp. 73-8.

See Elizabeth Valkenier , op. cit Apparently, after his removal from office, Khrushchev was criticised for bestowing Hero of the Soviet Union awards on Ben Bella of Algeria and Nasser of Egypt in May 1964 (i.e., a communist decoration being awarded to non-communist nationalist leaders). See Stephen T. Hosmerand Thomas W. Wolfe op. cit, p.21.

See for example G.I. Mirskii , Armiia politika v stranakh Azii i Afriki (Moscow: Nauka, 1970).

See A.F. Shul'govskii (ed.), Politicheskaia Sistema Obshchestva v Latinskoi Amerike ( Moscow: Nauka, 1982), pp. 8-9, and B. Koval and N. Konovalova , 'Anti-Imperialist Struggle in Latin America', International Affairs (Moscow) (No. 3, 1968), pp. 63-7.

A. Shul'govskii , 'Arms and Politics in Latin America', International Affairs (Moscow) (No. 5, 1967), pp. 28-34.

See N.V. Zinov'ev and L.L. Klyuchkovskii , 'K novym rubezham vo vzaimnoi torgovle ', Latinskaia Amerika (No. 4, 1985), pp. 7-19.

Cole Blasier , The Giant's Rival, op. cit., p. 41,

See Peter Shearman , 'The Soviet Union and Grenada Under the New Jewel Movement', International Affairs (London) (Vol. 61, No. 4, Autumn 1985), pp. 661-73; Robert K. Evanson , 'Soviet Political Uses of Trade with Latin America'. Journal of Interamerican Studies and World Affairs (Vol. 27, No. 2), pp. 99-127.

See Pravda, 23 March 1980; Pravda. 16 December 1981; Pravda, 15 May 1982; Barricada International. 9 May 1985; and The Guardian, 13 September 1985.

In an interview in London with Arkady Shevchenko (until his recent defection to the West, a high ranking Soviet official at the UN) I was told that the Soviet leadership would 'sell' Nicaragua for an improvement in superpower relations. Shevchenko suggested that those who made Soviet foreign policy (not the ideologues) would certainly be unwilling to keep Nicaragua's economy afloat with large amounts of Soviet aid. I do however accept that Shevchenko is perhaps not an authoritative or reliable source. For a damning review of his book, Breaking with Moscow (New York: Knopf, 1985), where it is suggested that it is largely a work of pure fiction see Edward Jay Estein , 'The Invention of Arkady Shevchenko, Supermole: The Spy Who Came in to be Sold', The New Republic. 15-22 July 1985, pp. 35-42.

See Stephen T. Hosmer and Thomas W. Wolfe , Soviet Policy and Practice Toward Third World Conflicts, op. cit., p. 76, and Richard F. Staar , USSR Foreign Pulicies After Detente, op. cit., p. 144.

Stephen T. Hosmer and Thomas W. Wolfe , Soviet Policy and Practice Toward Third World Conflicts, op. cit., p. 45.

Robbin F. Laird ,'Soviet Arms Trade with the Noncommunist Third World', in Erik P. Hoffmann (ed.), The Soviet Union in the 1980s (New York: The Academy of Political Science, 1984), pp. 196-213.

Curt Gusteyger , Searching for World Security: Understanding Global Armament and Disarmament (London: Frances Pinter, 1985).

Blasier refers to the arms to Guatemala in 1954 (The Giant's Rival , op, cit., p. 154). The Soviet Union proposed to the Egyptians that the 1955 arms deal be made through Czechoslovakia in order not to prejudice the 'spirit of Geneva' - see Mohamed Heikal , Sphinx and Commissar: The Rise and Fall of Soviet Influence in the Middle East (London: Collins, 1978), p. 59.

On Soviet military supplies to Nigeria see Bruce D. Porter , The USSR in Third World Conflicts. op. cit., pp. 90-112. Some writers have suggested that the USSR did offer military aid to Allende but was turned down, though no hard evidence to this effect is cited - see Cole Blasier. The Giant's Rival, op. cit., p. 39; Stephen T. Hosmer and Thomas W. Wolfe , Soviet Policy and Practice Toward Third World Conflicts. op. cit., p. 45: and Robert K. Evanson , 'Soviet Political Uses of Trade with Latin America', op. cit., p. 112.

Robbin F. Laird , 'Soviet Arms Trade with the Noncommunist Third World', op. cit., p. 206.

Ibid., p. 208.

Ibid., p. 197.

Roger Kanet and Sumit Ganguly , 'Instruments of Soviet Policy in the Third World: Soviet Economic and Military Relations', Coexistence (Vol. 22, No.3, 1985). pp, 195-213. 34. Mark V. Kauppi , 'The Soviet Union and Africa: The Dynamics and Dilemmas of Involvement ', in R. Craig Nation and Mark V. Kauppi (eds.). The Soviet Impact in Africa, op. cit., pp. 221-253.

See The International Herald Tribune. 25 October 1985.

For example Roman Kolkowicz argues that 'Soviet arms, technology, military expertise, and advisory missions have become the most effective exports and influence-building commodities of the Kremlin in the Third World' - see his 'The Military and Soviet Foreign Policy' in Roger Kanet (ed.). Soviet Foreign Policy in the 1980s, pp. 17-36. Likewise David Albright writes: 'In the post-1970 period military means have replaced economic means as the primary instrumentalities whereby Moscow has sought to carry out its strategy in the Middle East and Africa' - see his 'The Middle East and Africa in Recent Soviet Policy', op cit., p. 301.

In a series of speeches in the mid-1960s Castro openly criticised the new Soviet leadership for these unrevolutionary activities. In 1965 he argued vehemenently that 'no-one can give Cubans lessons in revolution ... we are not anyone's satellite, and we never shall be' - see Bohemia , 19 March 1966. In 1966 he criticised the Soviet Union for fostering diplomatic relations with Frei's regime in Chile and for giving aid to Brazil - see Cuba Socialista August 1966. In 1967 Castro attacked the pro-Soviet communist parties in Latin America which supported the peaceful road to socialism: '... those who are not revolutionary fighters cannot be called communists' - see Granma, 19 March 1967. In early 1968 Castro purged the pro-Soviet micro-faction led by Anibal Escalante from the party - see Granma Weekly Review 11 February 1968, for report on the Central Committee meeting which met to discuss this issue. The Cubans also condemned Brezhnev's peace programme and peaceful coexistence as 'an imperialist modus vivendi' - see Granma Weekly Review, 24 March 1968.

See Granma. 23 March 1968; the Christian Science Monitor, 16 July 1969; Stephen Clissold (ed.), Soviet Relations with Latin America (London: RIIA, 1971), p. 57; and W. Raymond Duncan , The Soviet Union and Cuba (New York: Praeger, 1985), pp. 74-5.

Stephen T. Hosmer and Thomas Wolfe. Soviet Policy and Practice Toward Third World Conflicts, op. cit., p. 79.

See Wayne Smith , 'A Trap in Angola', Foreign Policy (No. 62, Spring 1986), pp. 61-74. At the time of these events Smith was the US State Department's leading expert on Cuba. In this article he is arguing that the Reagan administration is repeating the mistakes of the 1970s in its current policy in Southern Africa.

See Peter Shearman , 'Detente, Soviet-US Relations and the October War in the Middle East, 1973', Discussion Paper Series. No. 5, January 1985. Russian and Soviet Studies Centre, University of Essex. For an analysis of the Angolan conflict and its impact on detente see Raymond L. Garthoff. Detente and Confrontation: American-Soviet Relations From Nixon to Reagan (Washington, DC: Brookings Institution, 1985), pp. 502-37.

Bruce D. Porter , The USSR in Third World Conflicts, op. cit., pp. 193-4.

It has been variously estimated that between 11,000 to 17,000 Cuban troops, and from 1,000 to 1,500 Soviet commanders and support staff, were involved in the Ogaden War. See Stephen T. Hosmer and Thomas W. Wolfe , Soviet Policy and Practice Toward Third World Conflicts, op. cit., p. 92, and Bruce D. Porter , The USSR in Third World Conflicts. op. cit., p. 204.

For a discussion of these agreements and their implications for superpower policies in the regional conflict situations see Alexander L. George , Managing US-Soviet Rivalry: Problems of Crisis Prevention (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1983), and Peter Shearman , 'Detente, Soviet-US Relations and the October War in the Middle East, 1973', op. cit.

See Keith Somerville , 'The Soviet Union and Zimbabwe: The Liberation Struggle and After', in R. Craig Nation and Mark V. Kauppi (eds.), The Soviet Impact in Africa op. cit., pp. 195-220.

Pravda, 3 December 1985.

W. Raymond Duncan , The Soviet Union and Cuba, op. cit., pp. 43-4.

For a full list of Third World countries which have signed TFCs with the Soviet Union see R.F. Staar , USSR Foreign Policies After Detente, op. cit., p. 203. Zaki Laidi suggests that the lack of a security clause in the Congo's treaty with Moscow can be explained by the absence of a serious threat to that country which would render Soviet military assistance necessary, and this then makes the Congo more independent from Soviet influence which is reflected in voting patterns in the UN - see his 'Towards an Extension of the World Socialist System in Black Africa', paper presented at the workshop on the Soviet Union and the Third World, ECPR Joint Sessions, Barcelona, March 1985. Cuba does have a TFC with the German Democratic Republic which was signed in May 1980 (although there is no real commitment to mutual security assistance) - for the full text in English see Granma Weekly Review, 20 June 1980. There has been speculation that Cuba sought entry into the Warsaw Treaty Organisation but was turned down - see The Times, 27 July 1970. However, Cuba's security can perhaps be said to be guaranteed by the agreement reached between the superpowers in resolving the 1962 missile crisis (i.e., America will not invade so long as the Soviet Union refrains from placing offensive weapons on the island).

Edward Crankshaw (ed.), Khrushchev Rememhers (London: Book Club Associates, 1971 ), p. 492.

The first bilateral trade agreement was signed in June 1980 and it committed both sides to purchase certain products at 'standard world market prices'. See Sbornik Mezhdunarodnykh Dogovorov SSSR. Vol. 36 (Moscow: Mezhdunarodnye otnosheniia, 1982), pp. 121-4.

See Peter Shearman , 'The Soviet Union and Grenada under the New Jewel Movement', op.cit., for a detailed examination of Soviet ties with Bishop.

See Stephen Clissold (ed.), Soviet Relations with Latin America, op. cit., p. 15. Now, of course, Sandino is seen as a revolutionary hero - see I. Grigulevich , Dorogami Sandino (Moscow: Molodaia Gvardiia, 1984).

This quote is taken from William M. LeoGrande , 'Cuba and Nicaragua: From the Somozas to the Sandinistas', Caribbean Review (Vol. 9, No. 1, Winter 1980), pp. 11-14. On the support rendered by Costa Rica see Mitchell A, Seligson , 'The Costa Rican Role in the Sandinista Victory', in Thomas W.Walker (ed.). Nicaragua in Revolution ( New York: Praeger, 1982), pp. 331-43.

A trade agreement between Nicaragua and the USSR was concluded in early 1980; see Pravda, 23 March 1980.

The Military Balance. 1982-1983 (London : IISS. 1982), p. 123. In Moscow Humberto Ortega had meetings with Ustinov, Epishev, and Ogarkov - see Morris Rothenburg , 'Latin America in Soviet Eyes', Problems of Communism (September-October, 1983), pp. 1-18.

See Barricada Internacional, 9 May 1985. An official farewell celebration was arranged for the departing Cuban officers in a military school in Managua, to which ambassadors from the Contadora nations were invited.

See Granma Weekly Review, 24 February 1985 .

Pravda, 30 April 1985.

See South, July 1985.

See Alec Nove's written report to the House of Commons: Second Report From the Foreign Affairs Committee, Session 1985-86, on UK-Soviet Relations , Vol. 11 (London: HMSO, 1986), pp. 313-17.

Jerry F. Hough. 'Gorbachev's Strategy'. Foreign Affairs (Vol. 64, No. 1. Fall 1985). p. 33-53.