U.S. Foreign Policy in the 1980s

Abstract

The trouble with most discussions of U.S. foreign policy, on the left as well as on the right, is that they are placed in a totally inappropriate framework of assumptions and preconceptions. The most important of these is that the United States and the Soviet Union are locked in a gigantic superpower struggle for world supremacy. This is seen as the number one contradiction in the world today to which all other contradictions and conflicts are subordinate. From this premise it is assumed to follow that a gain by either side is, directly or indirectly, a loss for the other. In other words, the superpowers are playing what is called a zero-sum game: a plus for one is cancelled out by a minus for the other; it is impossible for both to gain or lose at the same time.This article can also be found at the Monthly Review website, where most recent articles are published in full.Click here to purchase a PDF version of this article at the Monthly Review website.