The Evolution of Soviet Foreign Policy in Southeast Asia: Implications for Russian Foreign Policy

Abstract

acterized by periods of activism in certain states and bouts of benign neglect in others. The lack of a sustained Soviet commitment to Southeast Asia is directly related to turbulent political events in the twentieth-century international system. The bipolar character of the international system of the twentieth-century shaped and defined the role of the Soviet Union in Southeast Asia, in some ways serving as a constraint to Soviet behavior and in other ways providing the Soviet leadership with opportunities. Initially, the Soviet Union sought to gain influence through the support of communist revolutionary movements that existed, with varying degrees of influence, in virtually every state in the region. Later, the Soviet Union developed close relations with the countries of Indochina, particularly Vietnam, and sought to expand those relationships through political alliances and massive amounts of aid. In the latter part of the 1980s, Soviet foreign policy in Southeast Asia had begun to change in tone and content. The changes were the result of Soviet domestic reform imperatives; the Soviets recognized the value of expanding relations with noncommunist countries and extending policy options to include bilateral trade, and they reassessed relations with allies in Indochina. The collapse of the Soviet state following the 1991 August coup attempt and the end of the Cold War accelerated these trends in Southeast Asian foreign policy. The rationale directing foreign policy shifted from a military to a developmental imperative. International factors have made it possible for Russia to