Book Reviews : Soviet Economic Warfare. By ROBERT LORING ALLEN. (Washington, D.C.: Public Affairs Press, 1960. Pp. x, 293. $5.00.)

• Date: 01 September 1961
• Published date: 01 September 1961
• DOI: 10.1177/106591296101400313
• Author: Nelson F. Norman
• Subject Matter: Articles

770

BOOK

REVIEWS

Soviet

Economic

Warfare.

By

ROBERT

LORING

ALLEN.

(Washington,

D.C.:

Public

Affairs

Press,

1960.

Pp.

x,

293.

$5.00.)

This

book

is

an

expanded

review

of

the

Soviet

Bloc

Foreign

Economics

Relations

Project

set

up

in

1956

at

the

University

of

Virginia.

Twenty-four

of

the

fifty-four

project

studies

bear

the

name

of

director

Allen,

who

uses

this

volume

to

correlate

all

the

findings

in

a

comprehensive

survey

and

to

update

some

of

them

to

early

1960.

In

his

introduction,

Erwin

D.

Canham,

editor

of

the

Christian

Science

Monitor,

correctly

points

out

that

the

book

is

primarily

concerned

with

chal-

lenge,

not

warfare.

&dquo;How

to

compete

effectively,&dquo;

says

Professor

Allen

&dquo;is

beyond

the

scope

of

this

book.&dquo;

The

author’s

basic

theme

emerges

clearly:

economic

and

political

motiva-

tions

are

linked

in

a

Soviet

foreign

trade

which

is

minor

in

volume

now

but

capable

of

significant

future

expansion.

Financial

losses

can

be

charged

to

revolutionary

gains.

Enforced

bilateralism

favors

the

powerful

government-

backed

Soviet

trader

while

it

underscores

Soviet

aims

of

trade,

not

aid.

Early

propaganda-rich

trade

agreements

are

now

followed

by

harder

negotiations

which

point

up

shortcomings

in

dealing

with

the Soviet

Union.

The

short-

term

Soviet

aim

is

to

establish

economic

ties;

the

long-term

objective

is

to

use

these

ties

to

contribute

to

eventual

political

subordination.

&dquo;Ruble

diplomacy&dquo;

is

a

complex

economic

imperialism.

Easy

credit

is

offered,

but

it is

too

soon

to

learn

what

happens

to

major

defaulters.

Per-

suasion

to

deal

is

high

pressured,

and

is

backed

by

visiting

dignitaries

and

traveling

trade

fairs

representing

what

is

pictured

as

a

unique

and

disinterested

utopia.

Signed

contracts

tend

to

have

a

highly

fictional

aspect,

particularly

in

schedules

of

delivery

and

quality

of

goods.

Arms

comprise

less

than

one-

quarter

of

Soviet

exports;

the

remainder

is

capital

goods

designed

to

serve

rapid

industrialization.

Recipients

regard

this

as

the

key

to

modernity.

Com-

munists

may

view

it

as

a

necessary

prelude

to

shaping

proletarian

states.

Faith

in

Soviet

promises

was

at

first

enhanced

by

unhappy

colonial

experiences,

but

a

skeptical

and

more

realistic

sense

of

appraisal

seems

to

be

developing

among

the

freed

colonies.

Soviet

influence

is

greatest

where

the

trading

partner

is

most

desperate,

and

Soviet

products

tend

to

suffer

where

there

is

direct

competition

and

comparison.

Soviet

trade

has

not

always

brought

hoped-for

results:

Afghan-

istan

accepted

five

hundred

Soviet

technicians,

but

resisted

the

offer

of

Soviet

educators.

Economic

integration

of

the

Soviet

bloc

is

still

an

imponderable

in

foreign

trade:

in

some

areas

Chinese

competition

undermines

Soviet

plans

as

much

as

Yugoslav

rivalry

does.

This

book

has

provided

a

service

in

its

coordination

oaf

economic

data.

A

further

step,

toward

an

inter-disciplinary

approach,

would

increase

this

con-

tribution.

Very

little

mention

is

made

of

Marxist

or

contemporary

philosophical

attitudes

toward

trade.

The

role

of

INTOURIST

in

attracting

tourist

money