|
Soviet Union [USSR] TRADE WITH THIRD WORLD COUNTRIES
The Third World embraces those countries the Soviet Union terms
""developing countries."" This category includes those countries of
socialist orientation that have some sort of privileged economic
affiliation with the Soviet Union, such as Afghanistan, Angola,
Iraq, and Nicaragua, but excludes the developing countries ruled by
Marxist-Leninist (see Glossary) parties, such as Cambodia, Laos,
and Vietnam. Soviet trade with the Third World has been marked by
two characteristics. First, although the Soviet Union has generally
played only a minor role in Third World trade, Soviet imports or
exports have formed a large portion of the total trade of some
countries. Second, the Soviet Union has concentrated its trade with
the Third World in the hands of relatively few partners. For
example, in 1987 India, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Argentina, Egypt,
Turkey, Afghanistan, Nigeria, and Malaysia together accounted for
75 percent of Soviet imports from and 80 percent of Soviet exports
to the Third World.
Although Soviet trade with the Third World increased in volume
from 1965 through 1985, it remained between 13 and 15 percent of
total Soviet trade for exports and 10 and 12 percent for imports.
The Third World's trade with the Soviet Union, however, decreased
in the 1970s and into the 1980s. These data include Cuba, since the
only figures available concerning Third World trade with the Soviet
Union include Cuba. As a percentage of overall Third World trade,
the Soviet Union's share fell from 3.9 percent in 1970 to 2.5
percent in 1981. Deducting Soviet trade with Cuba, which has been
considerable, would show an even smaller role played by the Soviet
Union in Third World trade. In the late 1980s, the Soviet Union
sought arrangements that would allow it to maintain a level of
trade that minimized the loss of hard currency.
Data as of May 1989
|
