The Soviet Union and the Strategy of Non-Alignment in the Third World

by Roy Allison

In a survey of Soviet attitudes toward the large group of Third World countries outside the primary alliances, generally referred to as the non-aligned states, the book assesses the policy implications of Soviet views on neutrality, non-alignment, the Non-Aligned Movement, neutralization, and alignment in the Third World. A primary intention is to consider how far Soviet leaders have accepted the independent foreign policy aspirations of non-aligned states and to explain the purposes behind Soviet encouragement for the status or strategy of non-alignment in the 1970s and 1980s. The study questions whether Soviet leaders are able or willing to accept non-alignment or neutrality as an intermediate status between the Eastern and Western blocs in international affairs. The Soviet view of the collective agenda of the non-aligned states on international security issues is analyzed, and the topical question of how the USSR understands military alignment and the primary North/South military relationship is examined.

308 pages, Hardcover

First published December 15, 1988