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Soviet Union [USSR] IDEOLOGY AND OBJECTIVES
According to Soviet theorists, the basic character of Soviet
foreign policy was set forth in Vladimir I. Lenin's Decree on
Peace, adopted by the Second Congress of Soviets in November 1917.
It set forth the dual nature of Soviet foreign policy, which
encompasses both proletarian internationalism and peaceful
coexistence. On the one hand, proletarian internationalism refers
to the common cause of the working classes of all countries in
struggling to overthrow the bourgeoisie and to establish communist
regimes. Peaceful coexistence, on the other hand, refers to
measures to ensure relatively peaceful government-to-government
relations with capitalist states. Both policies can be pursued
simultaneously: "Peaceful coexistence does not rule out but
presupposes determined opposition to imperialist aggression and
support for peoples defending their revolutionary gains or fighting
foreign oppression."
The Soviet commitment in practice to proletarian
internationalism has declined since the founding of the Soviet
state, although this component of ideology still has some effect on
current formulation and execution of Soviet foreign policy.
Although pragmatic raisons d'état undoubtedly accounted for
much of contemporary Soviet foreign policy, the ideology of
class struggle (see Glossary) still played a role in providing a
worldview and certain loose guidelines for action in the 1980s.
Marxist-Leninist (see Glossary) ideology reinforces other
characteristics of political culture that create an attitude of
competition and conflict with other states.
The general foreign policy goals of the Soviet Union were
formalized in a
party program (see Glossary) ratified by delegates
to the Twenty-Seventh Party Congress in February-March 1986.
According to the program, "the main goals and guidelines of the
CPSU's international policy" included ensuring favorable external
conditions conducive to building communism in the Soviet Union;
eliminating the threat of world war; disarmament; strengthening the
"world socialist system"; developing "equal and friendly" relations
with "liberated" [Third World] countries; peaceful coexistence with
the capitalist countries; and solidarity with communist and
revolutionary-democratic parties, the international workers'
movement, and national liberation struggles.
Although these general foreign policy goals were apparently
conceived in terms of priorities, the emphasis and ranking of the
priorities have changed over time in response to domestic and
international stimuli. After Gorbachev assumed power in 1985, for
instance, some Western analysts discerned in the ranking of
priorities a possible de-emphasis of Soviet support for national
liberation movements. Although the emphasis and ranking of
priorities were subject to change, two basic goals of Soviet
foreign policy remained constant: national security (safeguarding
CPSU rule through internal control and the maintenance of adequate
military forces) and, since the late 1940s, influence over Eastern
Europe.
Many Western analysts have examined the way Soviet behavior in
various regions and countries supports the general goals of Soviet
foreign policy. These analysts have assessed Soviet behavior in the
1970s and 1980s as placing primary emphasis on relations with the
United States, which is considered the foremost threat to the
national security of the Soviet Union. Second priority was given to
relations with Eastern Europe (the European members of the Warsaw
Pact; see Appendix B) and Western Europe (the European members of
the North Atlantic Treaty Organization--NATO). Third priority was
given to the littoral or propinquitous states along the southern
border of the Soviet Union: Turkey (a NATO member), Iran,
Afghanistan, China, Mongolia, the Democratic People's Republic of
Korea (North Korea), and Japan. Regions near to, but not bordering,
the Soviet Union were assigned fourth priority. These included the
Middle East and North Africa, South Asia, and Southeast Asia. Last
priority was given to sub-Saharan Africa, the islands in the
Pacific and Indian oceans, and Latin America, except insofar as
these regions either provided opportunities for strategic basing or
bordered on strategic naval straits or sea lanes. In general,
Soviet foreign policy was most concerned with superpower relations
(and, more broadly, relations between the members of NATO and the
Warsaw Pact), but during the 1980s Soviet leaders pursued improved
relations with all regions of the world as part of its foreign
policy objectives
(see
fig. 14).
Data as of May 1989
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