Book Reviews : The Soviet Union and the Developing Nations. Edited by ROGER E. KANET. (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1974. Pp. 302. $12.50.)

• Date: 01 December 1974
• Published date: 01 December 1974
• DOI: 10.1177/106591297402700439
• Author: Richard C. Gripp
• Subject Matter: Articles

775

The

Soviet

Union

and

the

Developing

Nations.

Edited

by

ROGER

E.

KANET.

(Baltimore:

The

Johns

Hopkins

University

Press,

1974.

Pp.

302.

$12.50.)

The

purpose

of

this

book

is

to

provide

a

general

overview

of

Soviet

policy

toward

the

developing

nations,

and

at

the

same

time

to

offer

illustrative

details

concerning

that

policy.

This

multi-authored

book

has

accomplished

that

objective

quite

well.

The

two

opening

chapters

by

Kanet

carefully

establish

the

framework

for

the

remaining

contributions.

Kanet

does

this

by

first

comparing

Soviet

policy

in

the

pre-1953

period

against

that

which

followed

after

Stalin’s

death.

While

Kanet

states

that

the

Soviet

prescription

for

development

in

the

third

world

nations

calls

for

progressive

revolutionary

democracies

which

emphasize

the

predominant

role

of

the

state

in

the

economy,

he

also

notes

that

Soviet

economists

no

longer

argue

the

necessity

to

stress

heavy

industry

over

agriculture

in

the

development

of

all

nations.

In

a

chapter

on

economic

relations,

Elizabeth

Valkenier

records

Soviet

consultants

in

the

developing

nations

advising

the

continuation

and

in

some

cases

the

expansion

of

small-scale

private

economic

activity.

One

can

conclude

from

these

examples

that

increased

Soviet

realism

reveals

a

diminished

optimism

regard-

ing

the

immediate

future

of

the

relations

between

the

developing

nations

and

the

USSR.

In

the

chapter

on

Africa,

Klinghoffer

then

adds

to

this

view

by

concluding

that

the

Soviet

Union

performs

like

a

great

world

power

seeking

both

political

in-

fluence

and

strategic

positions,

economically

and

militarily,

rather

than

acting

as

the

center

of

a

revolutionary

movement

attempting

to

overthrow

African

govern-

ments

and

replacing

them

with

communist

regimes.

Other

chapters

outline

Soviet

policy

in

South

and

Southeast

Asia,

the

Middle

East,

Latin

America

and

the

United

Nations,

completing

the

survey

with

a

discus-

sion

of

the

impact

of

the

Sino-Soviet

split

on

policy

toward

developing

nations.

This

theme

of

a

moderately

keyed

Soviet

realism

is

continued

throughout

most

of

the

book’s

remaining

chapters.

This

Soviet

objectivity

paid

off

in

an

unqualified

success

in

South

Asia.

Thus,

Bhabani

Sen

Gupta

believes

that

Soviet

strategies

for

South

Asia

offer

a

model

of

specific

and

successful

influence

building

within

a

broad

arena

of

international

competition

among

big

powers.

While

the

United

States

practiced

anticommunism

and

China

pursued

antisovietism,

the

Soviet

Union

directly

and

openly

supported

the

largest,

strongest

and

most

stable

nation

in

what

was

a

sound

geopolitical

appraisal

of

a

strategic

area

of

the world.

John

Campbell’s

chapter

on

the

Middle

East

pointedly

spells

out

what

some

of

the other

chapter

writers

only

suggest.

The

facts

of

Soviet

conduct

toward

sepa-

rate

Middle

East

states

are

more

significant

than

any

overall

Soviet

theory

for

the

region

as

a

while.

Instead

of

pursuing

a

goal

of

world

revolution

backed

up

by

appropriate

apparatus

for

subversion~

according

to

Campbell,

the

USSR

since

WWII

more

realistically

has

been

the

center

of

an

imperial

system

which

is

trying

to

hold

together

a

string

of

satellite

and

client

states

by

expanding

its

power

in

competition

with

other

such

imperial

systems.

As

we

know,

China

does

not

credit

the

Soviet

foreign

aid

model

with

either

wisdom

or

success.

Instead,

as

Jan

Prybyla

recounts,

the

Chinese

interpret

Soviet