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Soviet Union [USSR] Diplomatic Relations
The Soviet Union perceived two basic forms of diplomacy:
"bourgeois diplomacy" as developed by the European states, with its
emphasis on state-to-state relations; and communist diplomacy of a
"new type" among the ruling communist and socialist-oriented
regimes. Communist diplomacy emphasizes "equal, non-exploitative"
party and state relations among the regime and "peaceful
coexistence" between these regimes and the capitalist and
capitalist-oriented states. Soviet diplomacy hence was
multifaceted, embracing state-to-state relations with Western and
Western-oriented Third World states; party-to-party ties with
ruling and nonruling communist and leftist parties and national
liberation groups; state representation in myriad international
organizations and at international forums; and political alliances
with "fraternal socialist" states and states of socialist
orientation through the vehicle of treaties of friendship and
cooperation
(see Soviet Union USSR - Ideology and Objectives
, this ch.).
As the prospects for world revolution faded in the first years
after the establishment of Bolshevik rule in Russia, the Russian
Republic began assiduously to pursue diplomatic recognition as a
means of achieving legitimacy. At first, the Russian Republic had
resident embassies in only a few countries. After the Soviet Union
was established in December 1922--joining the Russian, Belorussian,
Ukrainian, and Transcaucasian soviet socialist republics--the new
state continued the policy of pursuing diplomatic recognition. The
Soviet Union was particularly interested in establishing diplomatic
relations with Britain and the United States. In 1924 the newly
elected Labour Party government in Britain recognized the Soviet
Union (in 1927 the succeeding Conservative Party government broke
off relations, but they were permanently restored in 1929), and in
1933 the United States established diplomatic relations with the
Soviet Union. During World War II, many Allied states recognized
the Soviet Union. During the "Cold War" of the late 1940s and
1950s, many states were wary of establishing diplomatic relations
with the Soviet Union, and a few states, mostly in Central America
and South America, recalled their accredited representatives. Since
the general improvement in East-West relations in the 1960s,
however, states in all regions of the world have moved to establish
diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union.
Since the 1960s, the Soviet Union has achieved diplomatic
relations with states in several regions where such relations were
previously unknown or uncommon--South America, Central America,
islands in the Pacific, and states in the Persian Gulf region. The
range and scope of the Soviet diplomatic presence has been roughly
matched only by that of the United States. In the late 1980s, the
Soviet Union had resident ambassadors in almost 120 states and
consulates and trade offices in scores of states. The Soviet Union
also tried to maintain or reestablish relations, or exchange
ambassadors, with states that had exhibited hostility toward the
Soviet Union, such as China, Egypt, and Somalia. As of 1988, the
Soviet Union had refused to establish relations, or had broken off
relations, with only a few states, most notably Chile, Paraguay,
the Republic of Korea (South Korea), Taiwan, and Israel. Soviet
diplomatic recognition of the governments of the latter three
states had been opposed by other regional powers with which the
Soviet Union has wished to maintain or foster close relations
(North Korea with respect to South Korea, China with respect to
Taiwan, and the Middle Eastern Arab states, with respect to
Israel).
Data as of May 1989
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