Soviet Power and the Third World , and: Superpower Rivalry and Third World Radicalism: The Idea of National Liberation , and: Russia and Arabia: Soviet Foreign Policy toward the Arabian Peninsula , and: The Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan: A Study in the Use of Force in Soviet Foreign Policy (review)

Abstract

BOOK REVIEWS Gilad Y. Ohana, editor Barnett, A., The Making of Foreign Policy in China ................ 233 Barrett, J., Impulse to Revolution in Latin America ................. 238 Bender, Coleman, and Sklar, eds., African Crisis Areas and U.S. Foreign Policy .................................. 240 Bittman, L., The KGB and Soviet Disinformation ................... 224 Cohen, E., Citizens and Soldiers .................................. 245 Cohen, S. , Sovieticus ............................................ 224 Collins, J., The Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan...................... 220 Darius, Amos, and Magnus, Gulf Security in the 1980s .............. 227 Dickey, C. , With the Contras .................................... 244 Feldman, E., Concorde and Dissent ............................... 229 Katz, M., Russia and Arabia ..................................... 220 LaI, D., The Poverty of "Development Economics" .................. 236 Lamm and Imhoff, The Immigration Time Bomb .................. 247 Laqueur, W. , A World of Secrets ................................. 226 MacFarlane, S., Superpower Rivalry and Third World Radicalism .... 220 Mastny, V. , Power and Policy in Transition ........................ 246 McNaugher, T. , Arms and Oil ................................... 227 Menon, R., Soviet Power and the Third World ..................... 220 Parrott, B., ed., Trade, Technology, and Soviet-American Relations ..223 Pepper, Janow, and Wheeler, The Competition ..................... 231 Reimers, D., Still the Golden Door ................................ 247 Reynolds, L., Economic Growth in the Third World ................ 236 Sharp, M., ed., Europe and the New Technologies .................. 229 Stanton, S., The Rise and Fall of An American Army ............... 245 Timberlake, L. , Africa in Crisis .................................. 241 Tsou, T., The Cultural Revolution and Post-Mao Reforms ........... 233 Ungar, S. , ed. , Estrangement .................................... 242 Vogel, E., Comeback ........................................... 231 219 220 SAIS REVIEW Soviet Power and the Third World. By Rajan Menon. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1986. 254 pp. $25.00/cloth. Superpower Rivalry and Third World Radicalism: The Idea of National Liberation. By S. Neil MacFarlane. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1985. 238 pp. $24.50/cloth. Russia and Arabia: Soviet Foreign Policy toward the Arabian Peninsula. By Mark N. Katz. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1986. 279 pp. $30.00/cloth. The Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan: A Study in the Use of Force in Soviet Foreign Policy. ByJosephJ. Collins. Lexington, Mass.: Lexington Books, 1986. 195 pp. $24.00/cloth. Reviewed byJames Voorhees, Ph.D. candidate, SAIS, and editor at the International Food Policy Research Institute. The expansion of Soviet influence into the Third World has been a cause of concern in the West since the 1917 Revolution. In the current debate, some argue that the Soviet Union is relentlessly expansionistic, that it has a carefully planned long-range strategy, and that it is guided primarily by ideology. Others argue that Soviet actions are essentially reactive and are guided primarily by national interest. But many on both sides show more conviction than understanding . These four books help enlighten readers about how the Soviet Union approaches the Third World. Rajan Menon's Soviet Power in the Third World is a closely reasoned analysis of the Soviet side of East-West competition in this arena. Menon concentrates on three topics: Soviet theory about the competition, Soviet power-projection forces, and arms transfers as an instrument of Soviet policy. According to Menon, the Soviet Union entered the 1970s with a bright new image of itself. This new image found expression in military interventions in Angola, Ethiopia, and Afghanistan. Soviet power shaped the outcome of political change in each of these nations, particularly the last. Menon argues, however, that the ability and willingness of the Soviets to act in the Third World is often exaggerated. They cannot match the West in the economic instruments of the competition for Third World allegiance. And the ability of the Soviets to project military power far from their borders is less than that of the United States and has been given a low priority in Soviet defense planning. The primary instrument used by the Soviets to gain power and influence in the Third World is the transfer of arms. Arms transfers have enabled the Soviet Union to establish a presence in important Third World countries. Nonetheless, the usefulness of arms transfers is strictly limited. Indeed, Menon points out, arms transfers often confer greater benefits on the recipient nation, both in terms of material gain and influence. Menon suggests that the Soviets have come to recognize that the West has advantages over the East in trading with and providing aid to the Third World and that this has...